My Apple and I
by ILOVENICO1000X
Summary: Nico thought he had it all; great friends, an awesome samba club. He didn't think he needed a girlfriend. That all changed however when he met the girl of his dreams under an apple tree one day.
1. Chapter 1

_I'm back! Woooo! Haha I wasn't gone long! So, the idea of this story first entered my mind when I was eating an apple one day. Go figure. I thought it'd make a very cute story! So here it is! _

_I'm so glad everyone liked Fairytale in Rio, it makes me feel kinda accomplished. So thanks again! Now I've got nothing else to say so I'll letcha read! Enjoy the first chapter to my newest story: My Apple and I!_

* * *

As the sun rose in the world of Rio, it sent an orange and pink strip across the sky. People slowly awoke to the sound of the singing birds in the jungle. From Ipanema to Copacabana beach, the city of Rio sprang to life. People were out and about already at six o'clock in the morning, all getting ready for a new day.

But nobody was as excited as a certain little canary wearing a bottle cap. "Pedro! Dude Wake UP!" Nico shouted in his friends ear. "Today is the day!"

Pedro's eyes snapped open. "Is it really?" He sat up with an excited grin.

"Uh yeah bro! Come on, let's go get Ralfy, he ain't gonna wanna miss this!" Nico pulled his friend up and the duo quickly flew out of the hollow.

Pedro turned to Nico as they flew. "Dude, do you really think Blu's gonna do this?"

Nico smirked. "He has to."

"Yeah but he'll probably just mumble and stare at the floor the whole time." Pedro sighed. After only knowing Blu a week, Nico and Pedro could easily tell how socially awkward their large blue friend could be.

Nico rolled his eyes with a smile. "That's better than nothing, he's never done this before so we gotta give him _some _credit."

Pedro laughed. "Yeah, watch him totally rock it!"

Nico laughed too and suddenly swooped down towards a familiar hollow. "Yo Ralfy! You ready to-AHH!" Before Nico could finish, he was suddenly tackled by a group of young toucans. Nico tried to call to his friend for help but one of the kids was standing on his neck. Not that it mattered anyway; Pedro was being pummeled.

"Hey hey! What have I told you kids! You only do that to strangers!" The voice of Rafael could be heard over the chaos. The toucan kids scampered over to their father and began climbing on him.

Pedro stood up shakily and wiped dirt off his feathers. "Phew, thanks Ralfy. I'll make Nico do something for you in return."

Nico guffawed. "What?"

Rafael chuckled. "Okay, Nico you gotta watch the kids for me."

Nico guffawed again. "_What?_"

Rafael and Pedro both laughed. "I'm just kidding. So is Blu ready?"

Pedro shrugged. "Probably not, but he's gotta do it!"

Rafael shook his head. "That was the dumbest bet! You knew he wouldn't be able to do it."

Nico held his wings up. "Hey! All he needed to do was sneak out of the hollow without Jewel knowing, and he woulda won! But since that failed," He turned to Pedro with a smirk. "We get an amusing performance from Blu."

Rafael rolled his eyes. "You two just wouldn't understand. You can **never **upset the lady in the relationship. Bad things happen if you do. But you wouldn't know that because you don't have girlfriends."

Nico scoffed. "We don't need girlfriends."

Pedro agreed, gesturing to his body he said, "No girl can own up to all this."

Rafael smiled. "Yeah, you say that now, but just wait until you look into the eyes of that special girl." He sighed happily, thinking of the time he first met Eva. "You'll never be able to look away."

Pedro and Nico rolled their eyes and the former muttered, "Whatever, let's just go and get Blu! This is gonna be hilarious!"

* * *

"No! I'm not doing it!" Blu exclaimed as Nico and Pedro struggled to push him into The Branch.

Nico was pushing with his back. "Come on Blu! You made a deal!" He grunted and pushed his bottle cap back in frustration.

"I don't care! There is absolutely no way I'm going to sing a song up there!" Blu's eyes widened when he noticed all the birds in the club today. "What did you guys do? Advertise this as an event?"

Nico nudged Pedro. "Told you he'd notice."

Blu sighed and tried to escape again. "Do you guys _want _to make everyone think I'm a freak?"

Nico rolled his eyes. "Blu, everyone loves you! No one's gonna make fun of you!"

Pedro raised his wing. "I might."

Blu frowned and Nico added. "Come on! You'll do great."

Blu shook his head. "No."

Nico gave Blu a sad look with puppy dog eyes. "Please?"

Blu swallowed and said, "No."

Pedro joined Nico with a sad look and they both said, "Pwetty pwease?"

Blu stared at the two of them and sighed in defeat. "Fine!"

Nico and Pedro cheered as if they were little kids and Blu rolled his eyes. "I'm only doing this because I have to."

Pedro smirked. "Oh you're not doing this for Jewel?" He cocked his head in the direction of Jewel and Rafael who were sitting at a table a few feet away watching. Blu nervously gulped at the sight of her.

Nico smiled. "Who knows. You might get a _reward _for this." He and Pedro shrugged their eyebrows and Blu gulped again.

"I don't know what you two are talking about." He muttered and avoided eye contact as he flew up to the stage.

Nico and Pedro laughed and fluttered over to join Jewel and Rafael at the table.

The audience of birds in the club turned their attention to Blu. He was even more nervous than he was before.

Jewel smiled when she noticed his nervousness. She yelled loudly, "Go Blu!" The rest of the crowd cheered along with her and Blu's confidence was slowly rising. He smiled sheepishly at the cheering crowd and felt the nervousness go away once he locked eyes with Jewel.

Her beautiful blue eyes made his heart flutter and he smiled when the music began.

Nico and Pedro chuckled at the song choice. It wasn't a bad song of course, but knowing Blu, he would choose to sing it.

_Hey honey, how would you like, _

_to have a time on the town tonight?_

_We can go where you wanna go,_

_it'll be so nice!_

Jewel smiled at the song choice and knew Blu was singing it for her.

_So cutie, what do you say,_

_I'll pick you up round 7 or 8. _

_We can talk and laugh all night, it'll be so great!_

Rafael, Nico, Pedro, and the audience all swayed to the catchy beat.

_A love like mine,_

_isn't something you'll come across,_

_too many times so I'll keep my feathers crossed._

_I'll treat you so well,_

_you'll feel like you've never felt,_

_it's hard to find,a love like mine_

Jewel laughed at the violin music that played in the background. Nico and Pedro were laughing too, but mostly at how much fun Blu looked like he was having.

_You seem like you need a break,_

_so take a chance with me today,_

_we can take all that stress, and make it go away!_

_If money is what you like,_

_buy whatever you wanna buy,_

_cause what my lady lady gets,_

_so just name your price._

Jewel blushed a little and Nico and Pedro were now standing on the table dancing around and singing along to the song.

_A love like mine, isn't something you'll come across,_

_too many times so I'll keep my feathers crossed._

_I'll treat you so well, you'll feel like you've never felt,_

_it's hard to find,_

_a love like mine_

Rafael was paying more attention to Nico and Pedro than he was to Blu. He laughed at their ridiculous dancing.

_A lot of other guys,_

_don't treat a girl right,_

_but I swear that I,_

_Wont ever lie_

_And I know you been hurt,_

_but I'll always make sure,_

_to put you first._

_I'll put you first!_

Jewel (having just noticed Nico and Pedro) laughed and rolled her eyes at their goofiness and returned her attention to Blu.

_A love like mine, isn't something you'll come across,_

_too many times so I'll keep my feathers crossed._

_I'll treat you so well,_

_you'll feel like you've never felt,_

_it's hard to find,_

_a love like mine_

The crowd cheered as Blu finished, but no one was cheering louder than Nico and Pedro. They were going all out for Blu's performance. Blu gave them both strange looks as he sat down at the table. "Did you two swipe some mountain dew on the way here or what?"

Pedro smiled. "Nah, we're just cheering you on."

"Yeah! You were amazing Blu!" Nico, Rafael and Jewel agreed.

"Gee thanks." Blu blushed as Jewel kissed him on the cheek.

Suddenly, the group heard a loud crash and turned to see a bunch of cups on the floor. Pedro spoke up. "Alright, who knocked over the cups?"

"Sorry, that was me." Out of the crowd stepped a young canary. He looked to be a few years younger than Nico and he had the brightest blue eyes anyone's ever seen. "I've been told I'm kinda a klutz." He bent over and began picking up the dozens of cups scattered on the floor. The sad part is that out of all the birds in the club, nobody offered to help him.

Nico sighed and turned to Pedro. "Let's help him out since nobody else will." The duo fluttered over and helped pick up the cups and stack them on the table.

When they were finished the stranger turned to them and said, "Thank you for helping me out."

Nico nodded. "No problem at all. The name's Nico and this is Pedro." He pointed to the cardinal who smiled. Nico turned to the table and said, "That's our friends Blu, Jewel and Rafael over there."

The blue eyed canary smiled and waved. "It's nice to meet you. Bird's like to call me Frankie."

Pedro stared at him confused. "Really? Well what's your real name?"

Frankie cocked his head to the side and said, "Frankie."

Pedro nodded understandingly and Nico gestured to the table. "You can sit with us if ya wanna."

"It'd be my pleasure." The three walked over to the table and sat down.

Blu turned to Frankie asking, "Where're you from?"

"I was born and raised in a little town I like to call Rio." Frankie smiled.

Blu gave him a weird look. "We're in Rio right now."

Frankie smirked. "Well then that is the answer to your question."

Nico and Pedro laughed at the confused look on Blu's face and Rafael asked, "Where do you live then?"

Frankie smiled. "Can't tell ya! It's a secret." Rafael raised an eyebrow. This bird sure was strange.

Pedro furrowed his eyebrows at Frankie and asked, "Why is it a secret?"

Frankie shrugged. "It's not really. We live in a very unique spot. I can't really explain it, I'd have to show you."

Nico raised an eyebrow. "We?"

Frankie nodded. "Me, my mom, and my sister."

Everyone nodded. Then all of a sudden the group heard a loud, growling noise come from Frankie's direction.

Frankie blushed and held his stomach. "Sorry I hadn't eaten yet today."

Nico patted his stomach too. "Now that you mention it. I'm hungry too. Who wants to go get something to eat?"

Blu frowned. "Sorry guys. But I promised Linda that me and Jewel would visit her today. Speaking of which we should probably start heading to the sanctuary. We'll catch up with you guys later."

Nico, Pedro, Rafael, and Frankie waved to the exiting couple and Frankie turned to the other three birds. "You guys up for some fruit? I know a good spot where we can get some fresh without having to go to the fruit market."

Everyone nodded and Frankie added. "Sweet! Just follow me then!" Frankie took off and flew out of The Branch and Nico, Pedro, and Rafael looked at each other, shrugged and quickly followed.

* * *

"Welcome to fruit paradise!" Frankie smirked at the expressions of his new friends. They had their beaks dropped as they gazed at the dozens of trees; dotted with all types of fruit. Mangoes, Papaya, Apples, Pomegranates, Peaches, and so much more.

"Whoa!" Pedro gasped. He's never seen a more beautiful place.

Frankie laughed. "Come on. You guys have got to try these Mangoes! They're amazing!" Frankie led the group to a small mango tree and picked a large mango for the group to share. He performed a karate kick and caused the mango to split into two pieces. He and Nico shared one half as Rafael and Pedro shared the other.

"Aw this is delicious!" Pedro moaned through his mango. Everyone watched the cardinal in amusement as juice dripped down his chin and neck. Pedro didn't care. He shoved some more fruit in his mouth.

Frankie choked on a laugh. "You eat like you're wasting away into nothing!"

Pedro sighed and slurped the juice from his chin. "Well look at me! I'm just skin and feathers."

The group stared at him for a moment and then busted out laughing. Pedro breathed hard from laughing and turned to Frankie. "So Frankie, where's your hot wing?"

Frankie spit out his fruit. "What in the world is a hot wing?"

Rafael rolled his eyes as Pedro fell to ground laughing. "He means where's your girlfriend?"

"Oh, uh I don't have a girlfriend." Frankie shook his head at the laughing Pedro.

Nico swallowed his fruit. "Why not?"

Frankie sighed. "I'm a doctor, I'm not attractive to the opposite sex."

Everyone stared at Frankie confused. Frankie laughed a little. "It's an inside joke. Well not really, more of an inside joke, with myself."

Everyone was still a little confused but nodded anyways. Pedro added. "Bro, you need to get a girlfriend."

Frankie rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me what I already know!"

Nico laughed and Pedro held his wings up. "I'm serious though! Chicks would dig you!"

Frankie laughed. "Thanks but I'll be okay if I don't find anyone. What about you? Where's _your _hot wing?" Frankie winked and Pedro laughed.

"I don't have one either. Neither does Nico. So you're not alone." Pedro playfully slapped his wing and Frankie nodded.

Frankie suddenly smirked and turned to Pedro. "Hey, I'll race you to that Papaya tree over there."

Pedro's eyes widened. "Papayas? Oh you're on!" The two zoomed off the branch causing leaves and fruits to fall from the branches. Rafael rolled his eyes with a smile and Nico laughed.

Nico turned to Rafael and said, "Hey, I'm gonna go enjoy an apple. Why don't you try and stop them from having a fruit eating contest. Pedro definitely does **not **need another one of those."

Rafael and Nico shared a laugh and the toucan flew over to where Frankie and Pedro were arguing. Nico shook his head and flew to a nearby apple tree.

Nico flew around the tree, searching for the most eye catching apple. He turned and saw one that was almost sparkling. He wanted it. Nico swiftly flew over to the apple, landing in front of it. He inspected it; no bruises or holes. It was perfect. Nico reached out and pulled it from the tree. But another pair of wings grabbed it before he could.

"What the…? Hey! That's my apple." Nico reached and gripped the apple. He couldn't see who was on the other side but he knew that they wouldn't let go.

"Is it really?" A voice said from the other side. Nico raised an eyebrow. A girl.

"Yes it is. And if I may, I will so kindly take it back." Nico pulled the apple again but instead of being rewarded with a nice, juicy apple, he received a swift kick in the stomach. He landed hard on his back and looked up to see the bird and his apple flying away.

Nico growled. "Uh no. I don't think so!" He quickly flew after the bird. When he caught up, he kicked the apple out from the bird's talons sending it flying onto a tree branch. Nico didn't even stop to look at the bird who stole his apple; he just flew as quickly as possible to get to his apple.

He got to it and was about to pick it up when he felt the full force of the girl's body slam into his. That sent them and the apple all flying down to the ground. They landed first, she on top of him. She scrambled off of him, accidentally stabbing him in the chest with her wing, sending a bunch of dirt flying into his eyes and his bottle cap rolling away. Nico groaned and wiped his eyes. "Seriously!" He got up and picked up his bottle cap. Placing it back on his head, he turned just in time to see a flash of yellow catch the apple and begin running away. Nico quickly ran after her and the apple, not willing to lose.

He caught up and tackled her to the ground, sending the apple rolling away. Nico laughed and started after it. He could hear the girl groan behind him. Nico turned his head to see if she was still on the ground, but suddenly he was lifted off the ground by a pair of talons. He struggled against her grip and tried to escape but she held a tight hold. She threw him onto the ground and flew rapidly to the apple.

Nico growled. "Hey! Get back here." He got up and flew after her. When he caught her, he wrapped his wings around her waist to stop her from reaching the apple. Even though he couldn't see her face, he could tell she wasn't happy. She began to hit his wings, trying to make him let her go. "Well aren't we getting feisty." Nico smirked. The girl brought her elbow back, smacking Nico in the face. He reeled backwards and landed on his back, letting her go. "Ow." He said rubbing his beak.

The girl laughed. "Nice try." She picked the apple up, still facing away from Nico, and was about to take a bite but a sudden force pushed the apple out of her wings. She looked and saw the apple and Nico's bottle cap laying on the ground a few feet away. Before she could react, Nico ran past her and picked the apple up. Now he was about to take a bite of it when the girl ran over and grabbed the apple. Nico's grip tightened and he yanked on it. She did the same. Nico still couldn't see her face completely, he was too busy trying to get the apple.

"Let go!" The girl said.

Nico scoffed. "No! I saw it first!"

"What are you? A kid?"

"Yes. I want my apple!"

"It's mine!"

"No it's not!"

"Yes it is!"

"Fine." Nico smirked and let go of the apple causing the girl (who was pulling with all her force) to reel backwards onto her back. Nico walked over and reached for the apple but the girl grabbed his wing and pulled him to the ground next to her. She pinned him down and stared into his chocolate brown eyes.

Nico felt his entire world slow down. Everything around them seemed to be a blur. The girl was a female canary like him, with the brightest, most beautiful ocean blue eyes he's ever seen. Never in his life has he seen someone so beautiful, so angelic. Her bright golden feathers sparkled in the sunlight. Nico smiled at her. A real, genuine smile. He couldn't take his eyes off of her.

She smiled back and got up, pulling him with her. "Do you still need that apple?"

Nico smiled sheepishly. "Well, I'm kinda hungry, but if you want it you can have it."

The girl smiled sweetly and said, "Oh it's not for me. It's for my mother. You see, my mother is sick and I need to bring her a nice, clean apple everyday."

Nico immediately hated himself. "I'm sorry! If you would of said that in the first place, I would've let you have it." He walked over and picked up the apple and handed it to her. She smiled and accepted it.

"Thank you. And I'm sorry if I hurt you." She giggled lightly. Nico waved his wing dismissingly.

"Nah, don't worry about it. I should be the one who's sorry." Nico smiled softly, staring into her eyes.

She grinned. "It's okay. Are you still hungry?" Nico nodded and shrugged.

The girl smirked and walked over to the trunk of the tree, bumping into it with her hip. A fresh and perfect apple fell from the tree above and landed in front of Nico. All Nico could do was stare at her with a goofy smile on his face. "Thanks. I'm Nico by the way."

The girl smiled widely and replied, "It's nice to meet you Nico. I'm Nattie."

Nico smirked, grabbed her wing and kissed it lovingly. "Nattie, beautiful name for a beautiful girl."

She giggled a little. "Thanks."

"Hey Nattie!" A voice from behind them broke their eye contact. They turned and saw Frankie flying over with Pedro and Rafael behind him. "How's my sister doing?"

"She's your sister?" Nico asked, looking between the two. They did look alike with their bright blue eyes.

Frankie smiled. "Yup! Guys this is my sis Nattie! Sis, these are my friends Nico, Pedro, and Rafael."

Nattie smiled. "I've already met Nico." She batted her eyelashes sweetly and turned to Pedro and Rafael. "It's nice to meet you."

Pedro smiled flirtatiously. "The pleasure is all mine."

Nattie smirked. "Is it really?"

Pedro chuckled a little and Frankie turned to his sister. "How's mom doing?"

Nattie smiled. "She's doing better today. Her temperature is normal."

Frankie smiled happily and Rafael asked, "What's wrong with her?"

"She's sick. Some days she's have high fevers, cough, headache. Other days she'll just be weak and tired. We're not exactly sure what it is but it varies from time to time. Me and Nattie here take turns caring for her everyday. She hasn't left the hollow in months." Frankie explained sadly. Nico, Pedro and Rafael frowned.

Nico turned to Nattie and said, "I'm really sorry."

Nattie smiled softly at him. "It's okay. She's doing better today so let's just hope it stays this way." Nattie walked over and picked up the apple. "But I gotta bring her her fruit for the day. I'll see you later Frankie. It was nice meeting you." She smiled at Nico and then flew off. Nico watched her until she disappeared. His heart was still pounding.

Frankie, Pedro, and Rafael smirked at the dazed look on Nico's face. Frankie spoke up snapping him out of his stupor, "I see you like my sister." He mused.

Nico looked at him and blushed a little. "Uh yeah, she seems nice."

Frankie snorted amusingly, "I'm sure she seems _real _nice to you." He shrugged his eyebrows. Nico rolled his eyes.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Now gimme some of that fruit." Nico reached out to grab the apple that Frankie was holding. Frankie dodged Nico's wing and laughed.

"If you want it, you're gonna need to come and get it." Frankie flew away with the apple and Nico groaned.

"This is the second time I've had to chase someone carrying an apple." He flew after Frankie leaving an amused Pedro and Rafael behind.

* * *

Nattie flew into her hollow with the same awestruck smile plastered on her face. She got home from meeting this wonderful guy she barely knew. Her heart beat a little faster when she imagined Nico's warm smile. For some reason she couldn't get him out of her mind. _He sure was cute. _Nattie thought to herself with a smile.

"What're you smiling about?" Nattie turned and saw Maria (her mother) laying in her nest, smiling at her.

Nattie smiled and kissed her cheek. "Oh nothing. How are you feeling?"

"Tired." She said weakly. Nattie sighed. She hated seeing her mother so weak.

"I brought you something." Nattie pulled out the apple and sliced it up into some pieces. She gave some to her mother after cleaning them off. Her mother smiled softly and ate some.

"Do you think you can cover me up? I'm feeling kinda cold." The sick canary yawned. Nattie nodded and grabbed a large leaf, warming it up in some hot water. She dried it off and covered Maria up.

"There you go mom. Nice and warm." She smiled sweetly at her mother. Maria smiled back.

"Thank you my dear." She looked around expectantly. "Where's Frankie?"

Nattie smiled. "He's with some new friends."

Maria smirked knowingly. "Are these friends of his girls?"

Nattie rolled her eyes. She knew her mother had waiting for the day Frankie came home with a girl. "Nope. All guys."

Maria raised an eyebrow. "Oh will you be picking one of them out then?"

Nattie rolled her eyes. "Mother, I've tried dating remember? It doesn't work for me. What guy could possible want to deal with all this?"

Her mother sighed with a smile. "Don't worry. He'll come around."

Nattie shook her head. "Nun uh! Remember my last boyfriend. He always got mad because I was taking care of you instead of being with him."

Maria rolled her eyes. "Well that's his fault for not caring enough to help you out."

The younger canary sighed. "No guy is ever gonna wanna date me knowing they've gotta deal with all this."

Maria frowned and pulled her daughter's face up so she could look at her. "Hey, remember what I told you?"

"Keep your head held high and don't ever give up." Nattie sighed with a smile.

Maria nodded and kissed her daughter on the forehead. "That's right."

Nattie smiled and held her mother's wing for a few moments. "Alright. You get some sleep okay?"

Her mother nodded and said, "Why don't you go out. Meet some birds, have some fun for a change. I'll be perfectly fine."

"Mom, you know I hate leaving you here by yourself." She shook her head.

Maria rolled her eyes. "I'll be perfectly fine. Don't worry. Go have some fun." She gave her daughter a reassuring smile.

The young canary sighed. Her mother was always worried about her not having fun. "Are you sure?"

Her mother nodded. "Yes! Do me a favor and go see what Frankie's up to. Find him a girlfriend. And don't you hesitate to get a boyfriend yourself." She winked.

Nattie smiled and shook her head. This was one of the things she loved about her mother. She always put her and Frankie first. "As you wish mother." Nattie kissed her mother's cheek and stood up, walking to the hollow door. She turned back and looked at her mother as she comforted herself in the nest, snuggling under the leaf. Nattie smiled and turned, flying out of the hollow and into the afternoon sunshine.

* * *

_There ya go! The first chapter! I know that PrarieRose1017 and EmmerzK, and maybe a few others already know this but for those who don't, I just LOVE Frankie! You'll be seeing a lot of him in this story! He's cute! I can't wait to see what you think of him! Please review! I'd love to know what you think! Thanks and I'll see ya in chapter 2! :D_


	2. Chapter 2

_Whoo! Chapter 2! I can't believe I got this up so fast! Don't expect an update everyday though, but I'll be typing a lot this weekend! :)_

_There are two songs in this chapter, you should look them up while you read, the first one is "You're my only Shorty" By Ariana Grande ft Iyaz. And the second is, yes I know, Ice Cream Freeze by Hannah Montana. It will hopefully make a little more sense once you read it._

_Anyways, on with the story! :)_

* * *

Nattie smiled at all of the people on the streets of Rio. They seemed so jubilant to be alive on this beautiful day. That's one of the things she loved about Rio, everyone was so filled with joy. She looked downwards and spotted the familiar fruit market her brother told her about. It was apparently home to a very popular samba club. The Branch, Frankie called it. Nattie has never been to a samba club before so she swooped down, wanting to see what it was like.

When she landed, she could hear the music pounding like a heartbeat. She made her way under the tarp and into the colorful lights. Her beaked dropped when she saw all of the birds dancing in the club. She beamed and said, "Oh wow." There was a large (or at least large to her) stage in the front of the crowd. Nattie bobbed her head to the beat as birds banged on some metal cans. She loved this place already. Nattie smiled and closed her eyes as her body began to sway to the beat, her wings gracefully swirling around her. Suddenly, she felt something hit the back of her leg and she turned to see what it was. She accidentally stepped on the unknown object and tumbled forward, crashing into a bird, causing them to fall to the ground. Nattie opened her eyes and saw those wonderful chocolate brown eyes that belonged to him.

She smiled softly, "Do we have to keep meeting like this?"

Nico chuckled and said, "I don't have a problem with this." That's when Nattie realized she was laying on top of Nico, on the floor of The Branch, in front of a crowd of birds. She blushed and quickly got up.

Helping Nico to his feet she said, "I'm sorry about that."

Nico bent over and picked up his bottle cap, flipping it back on his head. "No worries." He winked. Then he said, "I thought you were taking care of your mom?"

Nattie shrugged. "She kicked me out." Nico raised his eyebrows in surprise and Nattie added, "In the nicest way possible."

"Why?"

"She wanted me to come out here and have some fun for a change. You don't happen to know anyone here who can have fun do you?" Nattie smirked. Nico smiled and flew upwards performing a spin before floating back to the ground in front of her.

He bowed and took his bottle cap off his head in a polite manner, "Well, m'lady, you'd be lookin' at him."

Nattie giggled and stepped forward, "Prove it."

Nico smirked back at her placing his bottle cap back on his head. "Gladly."

Nattie smiled as Nico turned and flew to the stage. "Alright everyone! I've got a new friend over there," He winked at her and added, "so let's prove to her how much fun we are!" Nico smiled and suddenly had a sparkle in his eye when he thought an idea. Before the music began, he flew in front of his new canary friend and said, "Let's see what you got, girlie!"

Nattie stared at him, confused for a second. She hesitated and Nico held his wing out for her to take. She looked into his eyes and smiled as she reached out and took his wing. Together, they flew up to the stage, as the music began. The audience cheered loudly and began dancing around while watching the canaries on stage.

Nattie didn't even realized Frankie, Pedro, and Rafael were there until she heard Frankie's obnoxious cheering and glanced over at them. She smiled and began to sing.

Nico's beak dropped a little when he heard her amazing voice.

_Last night was crazy, and today it's settin' in_

_Did you really mean it and could you say it again? oh, oh_

_Even if you just say it over the phone (come on and make it real)_

Nattie swayed her hips and arms in a way that Nico found incredibly cute.

_Love makes me crazy, restless, dumb, and paranoid _

_But I'll take a chance on us and hope you don't destroy my heart_

_Just give me one guarantee, I'm the only girl you see_

_Whatchu say, boy?_

Nattie smiled and winked at Nico and he slid over to her, taking over the chorus.

_You're my only shorty_

_You're my only shorty, yee yee yee_

_I'm tellin' you the truth_

_Girl, it's only you_

_You're my only, you're my only_

_You're my only one and only_

Nattie echoed Nico at the end of every line. They walked a round each other in a circle as they sang, never taking their eyes off each other.

_You're my only shorty (am I your only shorty?)_

_ You're my only shorty, yee yee yee (am I your only shorty?)_

_I'm tellin' you the truth (oh oh)_

_Girl, it's only you (oh oh)_

_You're my only, you're my only (am I your only shorty?)_

_You're my only, you're my only shorty_

Nico grabbed Nattie's wing and twirled her close to him. Then he spun her out and she twirled gracefully as she continued the next verse.

_Every day and night, you got an open invitation_

_As long as I'm your one and only destination_

_Fly with me, I'll be your fantasy_

She strutted across the stage and Nico followed her with a smirk. She turned to him before she sang the next part and held a wing up to his chest. Then, she walked forward, pushing him back with every step.

_You're in demand, but baby, baby so am I_

_But if you're weak and try to sneak, _

_I'll have to tell bye bye, you put you on the spot, _

_am I your only girl or not?_

_What ya say, boy?_

Nattie flipped Nico's bottle cap off his head and onto hers and she ran away from him as he playfully chased her singing the chorus.

_You're my only shorty_

_You're my only shorty, yee yee yee (am I your only)_

_I'm tellin' you the truth_

_Girl, it's only you_

_You're my only, you're my only (am I your only)_

_You're my only one and only_

He caught her and pinned her against the wall, taking his bottle cap back. Nattie giggled and playfully pushed Nico away, echoing his lines again.

_You're my only shorty (am I your only shorty?)_

_You're my only shorty, yee yee yee (am I your only shorty?)_

_I'm tellin' you the truth (oh oh)_

_Girl, it's only you (oh oh)_

_You're my only, you're my only (am I your only shorty?) _

_You're my only, you're my only shorty_

Nico began to rap the next part as he slid to her side, placing his wings around her hips and spun her around. Then, he threw her into the air and she performed a body roll, spinning as she descended back into his wings. They smiled at each other before lauching into the chorus again.

_Oh yeah, baby girl, did I mention?_

_You're my only shorty (am I your only shorty?)_

_You're my only shorty, yee yee yee (baby, come clean! )_

_I'm tellin' you the truth (oh oh)_

_Girl, it's only you (oh oh)_

_You're my only, you're my only (am I your only shorty?)_

_You're my only one and only_

Nico and Nattie stepped around each other in perfect synch. Nico smiled as Nattie twisted her hips in a fluid motion.

_You're my only shorty (am I your only shorty?)_

_You're my only shorty, yee yee yee (am I your only shorty?)_

_I'm tellin' you the truth (oh oh)_

_Girl, it's only you (oh oh)_

_You're my only, you're my only (am I your only shorty?) _

_You're my only, you're my only shorty_

Nattie sang as she circled Nico. He just watched her dumbly, echoing her lines. Nico smiled and grabbed a hold of her wing and spun her. Then, as Nattie sang the last note, he dipped her, staring into her blue eyes happily.

_Am I your only?_

_Am I your only?_

_Tell me, am I your only shorty? (yes, you are.)_

_Why won't you say that (yes, you are.)_

_Am I your only shorty?_

The song ended with Nico and Nattie staring at each other, breathing heavily from the performance. Nico stood up straight and helped her stand up, they both bowed as the audience cheered. Nico turned to her and exclaimed, "You were amazing!"

Nattie rolled her eyes sarcastically, "Oh please. Not as amazing as you!"

They shared a laugh and fluttered off the stage and to where Frankie, Rafael, and Pedro stood, cheering. Frankie was freaking out. "THAT WAS GRAND!" He picked his sister up and flung her around excitedly. "You rocked it up there!"

Nattie laughed as Frankie put her down, "Thanks bro! I couldn't have done it without Nico here." She nudged Nico and he rolled his eyes.

"Oh sure you can." He smiled.

Pedro whooped and said, "You two were INSANE up there! It was like…I don't even know how to explain it but it ROCKED!"

Rafael agreed. "Yeah, I've never seen Nico looked so happy before."

Nico blushed slightly and said, "Well when you've got a pretty girl like her up there with ya, you gotta make a good impression." He winked at Nattie and she just giggled and looked away.

Frankie smirked, "Well look at you two. Barely know each other for a day and you're already blushin' around each other."

Pedro snickered as Nico and Nattie's faces turned bright pink. Frankie smiled and said, "I'm just pullin' your peach."

Everyone looked at him for a few moments and then laughed. Pedro spoke up, "Man you say the weirdest things."

Nico turned to Nattie and gave her warm smile, "So what should we do now?"

She looked at him and her heart fluttered a little bit. His bottle cap was crooked over his right eye and he had the cutest look on his face. She bit her beak and smiled back, trying to hide the blush burning on her cheeks. "Well I've never been on one of those train things that I see all the time."

Nico looked at her confused, "Train things?" He thought for a moment and then laughed, "You mean trolley's?"

Nattie nodded and said, "Yeah! I've never been on one. We could go on one of those! You know, I-if you wanna?" She blushed slightly and Nico laughed.

"I would love to!" He turned to his friends. "What do you say guys?"

Frankie, Pedro and Rafael gave each other looks that said the same thing. Frankie spoke up, "Uh we're just gonna hang out here. You two go ahead. Have some fun."

Nattie raised an eyebrow. "You sure you don't want to come with?"

Frankie, Pedro, and Rafael nodded and Pedro said, "Yeah, but try not to miss us too much!" He smiled.

Nico and Nattie looked at each other and shrugged. "If you say so." They waved goodbye and flew out of the club.

Pedro turned to Frankie and said, "Man, they are so perfect for each other it ain't even funny!"

Frankie nodded. "Yeah. I approve of Nico too so if he wants to date her he has my permission."

Pedro smiled. "Aww lookin' out for your sister?"

Frankie chuckled and nodded. "Well, this really dumb guy hurt her pretty badly, I don't wanna see that happen again."

Rafael raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"

Frankie winced. "It's kind of a long story. I'll tell you guys some other time okay?"

They nodded understandingly and the three turned their attention to the stage when they suddenly heard music begin to play. Assuming another performance was about to take place, they clapped along with the rest of the crowd. Suddenly, out stepped a very colorful and beautiful female Green-Headed Tanager. Frankie's eyes widened and without warning he fell over. Pedro and Rafael looked down at him and the latter asked, "Whoa! Frankie what happened?"

Frankie sat up and pointed to the pretty girl on stage. "It was her fault! Her beauty pushed me over!"

Pedro looked up at Rafael and laughed. Frankie stood up and watched her as she began to sing and dance.

_Alright!_

_Here we go!_

_Follow me now!_

The bird jumped excited at the edge of the stage, frenzying up the audience.

_Everybody do your dance_

_Ain't nothing better than an all out jam_

_Are you ready for a little something new tonight_

_I gotta brand new step I think your gonna like_

_Come on boys!_

She winked flirtatiously at a few boys and slid to the side, then she began to dance as she sang the chorus.

_Gotta do like I do just follow my lead_

_Everybody let's chill_

_Do the ice cream freeze strike your pose_

_Then you do the milkshake_

_Shake it, shake it down low_

_Do the snow cone slide left to right_

_Put your hands in the air_

_And we can party all night_

She motioned for the crowd to follow along, some of them tried but failed for they did not understand the steps yet.

_Do the ice cream freeze strike your pose_

_Then you do the milkshake_

_Shake it, shake it down low_

_Do the snow cone slide left to right_

_Put your hands in the air_

_And we can party all night_

She fluttered upwards and then floated back down doing various flips and spins on the way down. It was incredible and the crowd went crazy.

_Shake it... shake it, shake it... shake it, shake it, shake it down low..And do the ice cream freeze (ha)_

_All kind of stepping make make you feel good(make you feel real good)_

_Triple step, butterfly sugar foot_

_(shake it, shake it, .. shake it)_

_But I'm coming up with a new thing what you need_

_(that's right)_

_Now everybody wanna do the ice cream freeze Come on boys!_

She winked and motioned for the crowd to follow along again, most of them did, dancing with her as she sang the chorus.

_Gotta do like I do just follow my lead_

_Everybody let's chill_

_Do the ice cream freeze strike your pose_

_Then you do the milkshake_

_Shake it, shake it down low_

_Do the snow cone slide left to right_

_Put your hands in the air_

_And we can party all night_

Now everyone was dancing, even Frankie, Pedro, and Rafael. Frankie never took his eyes off of her.

_Do the ice cream freeze strike your pose_

_Then you do the milkshake_

_Shake it, shake it down low_

_Do the snow cone slide left to righ__t_

_Put your hands in the air_

_And we can party all night_

The girl flew into the crowd and danced and sang with birds in the audience. She bumped into Frankie but didn't notice him as she flew back up to the stage. Frankie's heart was racing.

_Party all night! Did I hear someone say party! (party)_

_Were just getting started_

_Wanna take it from the top well you know I will_

_Now everybody let's chill_

_Lights, camera, freeze_

_Everybody let's go!_

Some birds from the audience flew up to join her on the stage for the chorus. Frankie took this as an opportunity.

_Do the ice cream freeze strike your pose_

_Then you do the milkshake_

_Shake it, shake it down low_

_Do the snow cone slide left to right_

_Put your hands in the air_

_And we can party all night_

The girl danced facing the crowd and Frankie was standing next to her. He had a happy grin on his face.

_Do the ice cream freeze strike your pose_

_Then you do the milkshake_

_Shake it, shake it down low_

_Do the snow cone slide left to right_

_Put your hands in the air_

_And we can party all night_

The girl was dancing so close to Frankie that he could smell her beautiful scent enter his nose. He sighed happily as he danced.

_Do the ice cream freeze_

_Then you do the milkshake_

_Shake it, shake it, shake it, shake it, shake it_

_(snow cone slide) then do the snow cone slide_

_Put your hands in the air_

_Go crazy!_

The girl looked over and noticed Frankie was staring at her. She smirked and took his wing and spun herself towards him as she sang the last note.

_Everybody let's chill!_

The song ended with everyone else in their own poses, and Frankie and the Tanager smiling at each other. She unwrapped her wings from around Frankie and pulled away, still smiling. She turned to the cheering audience and bowed slightly. Frankie sauntered off the stage and over to Pedro and Rafael. He smiled at them. "Now _that _is a hot wing!"

Pedro laughed. "Yeah bro! That girl can definitely dance!"

"Why thank you." All three guys turned and saw the beautiful standing there, with a smile on her face.

Frankie smiled and strolled over to her. "Let me guess, your name is Angel?"

The Tanager smiled and shook her head. "No it's not that."

Frankie sighed and looked her up and down. "Well you sure look like one."

She smiled and blushed. "Thanks. My name is Mandy." Then she looked him up and down and said, "Let me guess, your name is cute?"

Frankie smirked. "Well you can call me cute if you wanna but most people just call me Frankie."

"Well Frankie is a _cute _name." She winked. Frankie sighed. This girl was great. She had these really pretty big brown eyes. They were gorgeous.

"I'm Pedro!" Pedro suddenly jumped in making himself noticed. Mandy smiled at him.

"It's nice to meet you." She looked up at Rafael and he introduced himself. Frankie smiled at her when he suddenly got an idea.

"Hey, have ever had coconut milk?"

* * *

Nico and Nattie landed on the top of the trolley just as it was about to leave. Nico looked up at the sky and noticed the sun was setting. It was a very beautiful scene. Nico turned back to Nattie but realized that she wasn't standing by him anymore. She had sat down near the front of the trolley, relaxingly watching the scenery. Nico sighed contently and walked over to sit next to her.

She smiled at him as he sat down. "This is such a beautiful view isn't it?"

Nico smirked and with half closed eyes he said, "Well without you, it'd be just a view."

Nattie blushed a little and looked away from his eyes. He smiled and tipped his bottle cap slightly. Nico gazed at her. She was so beautiful, with her bright blue eyes and long curly eyelashes, she seemed to glow under the sunset. She looked at him and noticed he was staring.

She smiled a little and said, "What are you staring at?"

He smiled back. "You."

Nattie just rolled her eyes. "Oh stop it you." She looked away and giggled. She barely knew this guy, how could she be falling for him so fast?

Nico laughed. "So, you said you take care of your mom a lot?" He said, trying to make conversation.

Nattie smiled. "Yeah. Frankie does too. But I'm a little bit better at it than he is. Don't tell him I said that."

Nico chuckled and asked, "So what's your mom like?"

Nattie sighed. "Oh where to begin. She's amazing. She's kind to everyone, and always puts others before herself. She loves to sing and she loves samba. She's so funny and down to earth. She loves the beach. A lot…" Nico listened as she explained all the things her mother liked to do. He smiled, Nattie looked so happy when talking about her mother.

When she finished she said, "She's just an amazing mother overall. I don't know what I'd do without her."

Nico nodded, "She seems really cool. I'd love to meet her."

Nattie looked at him and cocked her head to the side. "Really?"

Nico nodded again and Nattie's heart skipped a beat. Not many guys want to meet her mother.

"How did she get sick?" Nico suddenly asked. Nattie winced and looked away. She tried to blink back the tears but she couldn't. It was just too hard.

"I don't know." She whispered hoarsely. Nico sighed realizing how hard it must be for her to see her mother so sick. Noticing a few tears fall from her cheeks he reached over and wiped them away. He held her wing and said, "Hey, she's going to be fine. You have to believe that. Just keep your head held high. And keep smiling okay?" Nico smiled warmly at her. She stared at him. She suddenly started to laugh. Nico looked at her confusedly and said, "What? I thought I did pretty good with that."

Nattie nodded, still laughing. "No that was great it's just that, for a moment I thought you were my mom." She laughed again.

Nico laughed too. "Well I'm glad I can amuse you."

Nattie took a deep breath. "Yeah. Taking care of my mom can be hard sometimes but it's my life so it's good."

Nico stared at her. He loved that she was so happy with life. That even though her mother is sick, she could still come out here, and put a smile on her face and have fun. That's hard for people to do. "I like how you don't ask for much." He smiled at her.

She looked a him saying, "What's there to ask for?"

Nico laughed a little and shook his head. _This girl is amazing. _He thought to himself. He suddenly smirked when an idea came to his mind. _Perfect!_

* * *

_Hm, what do you think his plan is? Haha I hope you enjoyed! And yes, we finally meet Frankie's love interest! I wanted to make her a dancer so that why I chose that song. She's a really pretty bird by the way, search her up! She's really cool looking!_

_Tell me what you think and I'll see in the next chapter! :D_


	3. Chapter 3

Nico looked over at Nattie and smiled. He remember just a few weeks ago he was singing his love ballad to Blu and Jewel. That was somewhat romantic. Maybe if he sang to Nattie she'd think it was romantic too. He pondered for a moment wondering if he should do it or not. She seemed to be admiring the scenery, not really paying attention to anything around her. Nico figured now would be the only chance to make his move, so he decided to go for it. He smiled at her and began to sing.

_Now, maybe the world doesn't see you._

_And maybe they don't understand._

_Just 'cause they don't see the footprints_

_Don't mean they're not in the sand._

Nattie looked at Nico, surprised to see he was smiling at her while singing. She could feel her cheeks burn, feeling quite flattered.

_I know you're surrounded by strangers._

_It feels so alone in your heart_

_But when everyone stands in the darkness._

_No one can tell them apart._

Nico stared into her eyes as he sang, meaning every word he was saying. Nattie smiled happily back at him.

_Now everyone has their own stories_

_And nobody's ends quite the same_

_I love for the days in the sunshine_

_Up over the nights in the rain._

Nico reached up at a blossom tree that was passing by. He grabbed one of the flowers and handed it to Nattie. Her heart skipped a beat as she grabbed it.

_But love brings change_

_Oh, yes it does._

_(Love brings change, change)_

_Love brings change_

_(Love brings change, change)_

_Oh love brings change when you need it_

_(Love, love, love brings change)_

As Nico continued into the second verse, Nattie stared in awe. Never in her life has anyone ever sang her a song. There was something so much different about this guy. Something far more real.

_When you look eye to eye with an angel_

_Don't mean that it's always the end_

_Sometimes it's the start of a new blessing_

_That comes in the form of a friend._

Nattie smiled softly, listening to the song. _This can't really be happening can it? I barely know him._

_But he's so sweet and nice and cute…_Nattie continued to quietly argue with herself as Nico sang.

_Now we all live in fear of when that day will come_

_When memories are all we can hold_

_The fire that burns is a natural love_

_And keeps us both warm when it's cold._

Nico swallowed a little and began to put his arm around her, hoping he wasn't going too fast. Maybe he was. What if this ruins everything? He hesitated as he sang, and Nattie noticed this.

_Now all I wanna do is see you laugh again_

_And see that same joy in your heart_

_I know that you're trying you just keep on smiling_

_And everything passes with time_

Nattie smiled as she noticed his nervousness, she reached over and took his wing and smiled reassuringly at him. He stared at her and smiled back as he put his wing around her, singing the chorus.

'_Cause love brings change_

_(Love brings change, change)_

_Oh, love brings change_

_(Love brings change, change)_

_It is a fact_

_(Love, love)_

_Love brings change, love brings change_

Nattie, finally feeling like she could let her guard down, leaned her head on his shoulder.

_Be still, wait on it_

_On the blessings girl_

_In the morning time_

_Be still, wait on it_

_Change is gonna come_

He and Nattie watched as the sun began to set. Nico sighed happily and sang the last line.

'_Cause love brings change_

* * *

Frankie landed on the soft sand of the large beach. His eyes scanned the area around him for one thing and one thing only. He examined the beach goers as they began to leave, the sun was setting. Most people don't like to swim at night. He watched a young couple walk down the shoreline, holding hands. Then his eyes shifted to a little kid digging in the sand, making sand castles and such. Then Frankie glanced over to his right a bit and saw it.

The perfect coconut.

His heart leaped as he flew over to it, kicking it down from its spot on the palm tree. It dropped to the sand and he landed by it. Splitting it open, he turned to Mandy.

"Try some!" He smiled widely. She gave him a weird look as she reached out to grab the coconut.

"This stuff isn't bad is it?" Mandy asked as she examined the liquid in the coconut.

Frankie just laughed. "Trust me! It's amazing!"

Mandy stared at him for a moment, then shrugged and sipped some. Her eyes widened. "This is really good!"

Frankie nodded. "Ain't it?" He began to drink some when suddenly it was snatched from his wings. He glanced up and saw Mandy drinking from his half of the coconut. "Hey! That's my half!"

Mandy swallowed and wiped her beak. "Sorry, it's just too good! You can get more."

Frankie shook his head. "You don't understand; if you steal my coconut, you steal my soul. I can't just go lookin' for another soul to take!"

Mandy stared at him and started laughing. He sounded so serious, it was hysterical. He looked at her confused. "What's so funny?"

She laughed some more and replied, "You are." Then she took half the coconut and placed it on his head. She laughed even harder as she flew away, "Catch me if you can!"

Frankie playfully frowned at her as he took the coconut off his head. "That's not very nice." He said sarcastically. "But the challenge you have offered me is accepted. Better fly fast, rainbow." He flew up in the air and flipped. "Because I am a well known-" He was cut off by the distant sound of Mandy. "Slow flier, 'cause I'm way over here and you're still by that tree!"

Frankie sighed with a smile. "Get back here!" He took off and chased her.

The two flew fast across the beach, and Mandy wouldn't stop taunting Frankie. She looked back and saw that he was actually catching up, and she was slowing down from exhaustion. "I wouldn't be talkin' little miss sunshine, I can fly like this for hours!" Frankie didn't sound out of breath in the least bit.

"So…can I!" Mandy panted. She was a really bad liar. Suddenly she had an idea. She looked back at Frankie's smiling face and swooped downwards. Mandy then soared behind him, above him, and under him in all directions. Frankie was getting dizzy. All he could see was a green, blue, and black blur that his own mind couldn't even follow. Suddenly she slowed down a little and he could see a look on her face as if to say 'what? Can't handle this?'. Frankie chose that opportunity to plow her over, that sent them both plummeting to the ground below.

Frankie hit the ground first, quickly followed by Mandy. She landed right on top of him. Both of them never stopped laughing, even when they painfully crashed into each other.

"That was amazing! Or should I say, _you _were amazing!" Frankie smirked at her.

Mandy smirked back. "Yeah, I so beat you!"

"Nuh uh! I caught you!"

"Only because I let you!"

"Whatever." Frankie rolled his eyes as he got up.

"It's true, but I wouldn't expect you to believe me." Mandy also stood, dusting herself off. She looked up when she noticed Frankie didn't respond. Mandy began to get all flustered when she realized he was staring at her, smiling. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"What you don't like it?" He raised an eyebrow.

She blushed a little and said, "It's not that I don't, it's just…there's nothing to stare at. I'm not that pretty…."

Frankie laughed softly and said, "You're right! You're not pretty at all. You're beautiful!" He winked. Then he turned and flew towards the water. She smiled and watched him for a little bit before following. She could definitely get use to this.

* * *

Nico smiled as he and Nattie flew towards her hollow. It was dark now, and he wasn't gonna just let her fly home all alone. So he went with her. For some reason, he could not stop smiling. Nattie was the same. The moonlight illuminated her feathers creating a glowing sensation. Nico sighed as he watched her fly.

She suddenly flew downwards and he followed. They both flew through a rather large bush and was then met with a open air. Nico guessed he was in some sort of clearing, but it was too dark to see anything. "This is where you live?"

Nattie smiled. "Yup. It looks way more beautiful in the daylight. You'll get to see it tomorrow."

Nico looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "We'll see each other tomorrow?"

Nattie fluttered and landed on a branch. By the way it felt on Nico's talons, it was twisted in some sort of shape. Again, it was too dark to see. She looked at him and said, "If you want to."

He nodded and noticed a small light come from inside a hole in the tree they were on. "Is that your hollow?"

She nodded, "Yeah, my mom must be awake. Would you like to meet her?"

Nico smiled. "I'd be delighted to." She smiled back at him and led him into the hollow. He looked around and saw there was a small candle lit by a nest. He looked closer and saw the bird in the nest was a female canary. With bright blue eyes like Nattie's.

Nattie walked over to her mother. "Hey mom. How are you feeling?"

Maria smiled weakly and said, "I'm okay. Did you have an enjoyable day?"

The younger canary nodded and said sheepishly. "Yeah, actually I brought someone here who wanted to meet you."

Nattie stepped aside to reveal the smiling Nico. He walked over to her and held his wing out for her to take. "A pleasure to meet you ma'am. I'm Nico." He took his bottle cap off in a friendly manner.

Maria smiled and shook his wing softly. "The pleasure is all mine. My name is Maria." She sighed and looked at her body. Her feathers were quite ruffled up, she was always self conscious of the way she looked. "I didn't always look like this."

Nico smiled gently and gestured to himself. "I didn't always look like _this._" They shared a laugh and the three canaries talked for a while. Finally Maria noticeably yawned. Nattie smiled and said, "Alright mother, you get some sleep. Nico will be back tomorrow."

She kissed her mother goodnight and led Nico to the hollow door. Before he left, Maria said, "It was nice meeting you Nico."

Nico smiled and bowed like a gentleman. "Likewise. Sleep well and I'll see you tomorrow." With that, he walked out of the hollow. Nattie blew out the candle by her mother and followed him.

When they were out of the hollow he turned to her. "Your mother is very nice."

She grinned and said, "Thank you Nico. I had a great day today."

"Me too. And you're gonna have an even better one tomorrow, just you wait." Nico winked.

"Can't wait." She whispered flirtatiously, batting her eyelashes. That made Nico's knees go weak. They stood there for a few minutes, not sure how to say goodnight. Finally Nico held his wing out for Nattie to take. She looked at it and back at Nico. Nattie smiled and shook her head as she pushed his wing away and wrapped her wings around him. "Goodnight, Nico." She murmured in her ear.

He smiled and hugged her back. "Goodnight." He pulled away and turned to leave, but before he did, he turned around and said, "Gosh, I hope this place looks better tomorrow 'cause right now it looks pretty dull." He winked sarcastically and she shook her head with a laugh.

"I'll see ya tomorrow Nico." With that, she turned and flew back into her hollow. Nico laughed and watched her until she disappeared. Then, with a happy sigh, he turned and flew in the direction of his hollow.

* * *

"Are you gonna get in?" Frankie playfully splashed around in the dark water.

Mandy just stared at him. "Are you crazy? I don't swim at night, you don't know what kind of creatures are in there!"

Frankie smirked. "Oh come on! It'll be fun!"

Mandy shook her head. "I don't think so!"

Frankie stopped splashing and stared at her. "Let's see, you've only got one life to live and you're going to stand there and wave to it as it passes by? What fun is that?"

"Well it's safer than swimming at night! What if a huge fish comes and eats you?" Mandy protested.

Frankie floated on his back and said, "Well you'd protect me right?"

Mandy scoffed. "Um, I'd be too busy running away."

Frankie sighed. "Oh please, there's nothing in here." He relaxingly floated around with his eyes closed.

Mandy smirked. "Oh wait! I think I saw something!" She slowly and quietly got in the water without Frankie noticing.

Frankie didn't even open his eyes. "I'm not falling for that." Mandy held her breath and swam under the water. When she knew she was under Frankie's floating body, she grabbed him and pulled him under. Frankie went wild. He kicked and screamed so much that Mandy had to let go because she was laughing so hard. They both surfaced and Frankie (still not noticing it was her who dragged him under) screamed and frantically swam to the shore. When he got on the shore, however, he tripped and tumbled to the sand.

Mandy was practically crying now. She was laughing so hard. "You should've seen your face!" She choked in-between laughs. Frankie's eyes were wide and he was panting.

"Don't DO that! You almost gave me a heart attack!" Frankie's blue eyes glistened in fear. Mandy laughed again and swam to the shore.

"Oh come on! It was funny!" She doubled over again at the look on his face.

Frankie shook his head. "No that was…" He trailed off and stared at her as she laughed.

Mandy looked up at him. "Come on, I see you smiling over there." Frankie could help it. She was just too cute.

They both laughed now and Frankie said, "I love your laugh!"

She stopped laughing and blushed and looked away. "I hate it! It's so embarrassing."

Frankie raised his eyebrows. "Are you kidding? It's great!"

Mandy blushed again. "Thanks." She said softly. Frankie smiled at her and stood up. He helped her up and then turned to the water.

"Let's go in again." He smirked.

She smirked back and dove into the water. Frankie just blinked in confusion. Mandy giggled and splashed him and swam away. He laughed and followed her. The two swam with each other for a while, enjoying the moment. Every minute that passed by, Frankie's feelings got stronger. Her beautiful brown eyes were amazing.

Finally they stopped swimming around and just waded in the water next to each other, quietly talking when all of a sudden, Mandy spoke up, "Frankie, stop tickling me." She shuddered and Frankie shook his head furiously, ridding away the water droplets.

"What are you talking about? I'm standing over here."

Mandy's eyes widened and she looked at him. They both had the same thought and screamed as they swam quickly to shore. They both plopped on the sand to catch their breath. They looked at each other and just laughed. "What was that?" Frankie asked, looking at her.

Mandy shrugged. "I don't know, but I don't wanna find out." She sighed and laid down on the sand, looking up at the sky. "Wow." She whispered. Frankie laid down next to her and glanced up and upon seeing the thousands of twinkling stars he beamed.

"Stars are beautiful." He looked at a group of stars and pointed. "You see that group of stars? That's a constellation. Some birds call it The Spoon. But I've heard humans call it The Big Dipper. I don't know what that means but I thought it sounded cool."

He pointed at another constellation. One that had four stars on the outside and three stars lined up on the inside. "That one, the humans call Orion's Belt. I don't know who Orion is nor why he's wearing a belt but I guess humans are strange like that."

Mandy looked at him, impressed. "You really know a lot of stuff."

He shrugged and said, "Well, something my mom told me is if you don't know something, figure it out. I eavesdrop on the humans a lot. You learn much more than you need. Stars are just little things that make me smile."

Mandy smiled at him. "I love how you're so real. Most guys don't care about little things."

Frankie laughed. "I've got a whole list of things I like."

Mandy grinned and said, "Tell me six. Six things that you really like."

Frankie sighed and thought for a moment, then he said, "Well number one, coconut milk. Number two, I really like shoes. Those things humans wear on their feet. I think they're cool. Three, I really enjoy it when the moon looks kinda like a toenail, you know like a little sliver in the sky. I just love that." Mandy laughed as he continued. "Four, I like starfish. I find them to be so incredibly interesting. Five, I love stuff that smells good. And six, I love how on cereal boxes, they've got the title of the cereal in huge letters and then in tiny letters right underneath it says 'cereal', as if they needed to clarify that it's cereal you're eating." Frankie laughed. "I find that hilarious." He looked over at her. "I've got a lot more things I like, those are only six."

Mandy just laughed. "You are the most random guy I have ever met in my life."

Frankie smiled. "Yeah, I get that a lot."

She looked into his mesmerizing blue eyes and said, "So are those the most important things?"

Frankie snorted. "No. My mom and my sister are way more important than those. I'd give away those little things any day for my family. My list of things are just stuff I can enjoy while I'm living my life."

Mandy smiled at him. She could tell that he cared about his family more than anything. "I like that you care so much for your family."

He nodded. "Yeah…speaking of which I should probably get home to them." Frankie stood up and helped her stand. "I'll fly you home."

Mandy shook her head. "Oh you don't have to do that I-" She was cut off by Frankie as he put his wing on her beak.

"I insist. I'm not going to let you fly home in the dark by yourself."

Mandy smiled at him. "If you say so." She turned and led the way to her hollow. Frankie smiled and followed.

"I'm adding you to the list of things I like." He muttered to himself. Mandy turned to him.

"What was that?"

Frankie blushed. "Nothing!" He sighed as he followed her in the night sky. Mandy raised an eyebrow at him but shrugged it off.

After about ten minutes of flying, Mandy landed on the branch that extended from her hollow. Frankie landed next to her and smiled, "This is where you live huh?"

She nodded. "Yup. This is it."

Frankie glanced around, he could find his way here again. "Well now I know."

After a moment of silence she said, "What about you? Where do you live?"

Frankie smirked. "That way, round about, to the left and over yonder." He said in a British accent as he pointed in all directions. Mandy laughed at his goofiness. "No, I live in an actual place. It's hard to explain though. How about I show you tomorrow morning?"

She smiled and nodded. "I'd like that. Tomorrow then?"

Frankie kneeled and took her wing in his. He kissed it and cooed, "Tomorrow." He smiled sweetly with his gleaming blue eyes. "May all your dreams be sweet and filled with sugar. And me." He winked.

Mandy giggled and tapped his beak flirtatiously. "Of course." She turned on her heels and walked to her hollow door. "Goodnight Frankie."

"G'night Mandy!" He smiled widely as he watched her disappear. When she was gone, he happily flew in the direction of his hollow, humming the whole way there.

* * *

Frankie quietly entered the hollow, being sure not to wake his mother up if she was sleeping. Suddenly, Nattie's face was in front of his. "GAH!" He exclaimed loudly and backed away and fell to the floor.

Nattie covered her brother's beak with her wing. "Shhh! You'll wake mom." They turned and watched as their mother stirred in her sleep. They watched her for a while, making sure she was still asleep, then Nattie pulled her brother off the ground and gently motioned for him to follow her outside. Once they were outside and out of hearing range, Nattie turned to him and whispered loudly, "Where were you?"

Frankie scratched the back of his head. "Uh with Pedro?"

Nattie crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. Frankie sighed. "Okay, I was with someone…" He hesitated.

Nattie smirked. "What's her name?"

"Mandy and she's awesome!" Frankie exclaimed happily. Nattie laughed softly. Her brother couldn't keep secrets from her if his life depended on it.

"Is that why you didn't get home until almost midnight?"

Frankie's jaw dropped. "It's _that _late? I'm sorry Nattie! I'll do better next time."

Nattie sighed. "I'm not mad. I was just worried."

Frankie stared in awe. "Awww you were worried about me?" He hugged her gently.

She laughed and hugged him back. "Of course! I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you."

Frankie pulled back and smiled. "No worries; I ain't going nowhere."

Nattie smiled back, satisfied and said, "Good, 'cause you've gotta take of care mom tomorrow."

Frankie face palmed. "That's right! I forgot!" He swallowed and turned to his sister. "You think I could have someone help me out tomorrow?"

"I don't care what you do as long as you're taking care of her. I can't do because I've got um some plans."

Frankie smirked. "What kind of plans?"

Nattie blushed. "Just…some plans. No big deal."

Frankie's eyes narrowed and he held up a feather. "There is a slight breeze out of the north-west,"

Nattie rolled her eyes. "Please don't!"

"The crowd is hushed by a certain female canary. She's got something to tell us all, but she just can't get it out. The only way to get it out of her, is by…"

Nattie's eyes widened. "Don't do it!"

"TICKLE TIME!" He attacked his sister and tickled her.

"NO!" She laughed and tried to get away. This failed. Frankie grabbed her foot. Nattie's eyes widened. "Frankie no!"

"I gotta do it!" He looked at her foot and smirked. "you can stop this you know."

Nattie shook her head frantically. "Okay okay! I'll tell you! I'm spending the day with Nico tomorrow!"

Frankie smirked. "Oh, little bit of a love day tomorrow?" He looked at her foot again. "I still have to do it!" He suddenly tickled the bottom of her foot causing her to scream. He covered her beak with his wing. "Shhh, you'll wake mom up!"

He laughed as he removed his wing from her beak. Nattie shook her head and smiled. "What am I gonna do with you?"

Frankie smiled and helped his sister stand up. "Love me, feed me, and never leave me." He turned to the hollow. "We should probably get to bed. Goodnight!" Frankie flew into his nest and Nattie did the same.

"Goodnight!" She whispered and softly closed her eyes. She fell asleep with images of Nico's smiling face still fresh in her mind.

* * *

_There you go! Chapter #3! Hahaha I hope you are liking this as much as I am! It's so much fun! Thanks so much for your reviews! Keep them coming! :)_


	4. Chapter 4

_Hello! I just wanted to say that now that I'm back to school, updates won't be coming as fast! But they shall be coming! Haha so there's a lot of romance in this chapter, mostly for Nico and Nattie. I won't give anything away but I hope you like it! :)_

* * *

The morning sunlight crept up Nico's body and slowly made its way to his eyes. He moaned and tried to wave the source of light away; rolling onto his side. He still wasn't satisfied; however, because the sunlight was still reaching him. Nico peeked his eye opened and glanced out the hollow door. Noticing the position of the sun, he guessed it was about eight in the morning. He smiled as the events of yesterday entered his mind. He had met the most amazing girl yesterday and couldn't wait to see her again today. She was so beautiful and funny and down to earth. There was just something else about her; something….special. Nico sighed as thoughts of Nattie continued to enter his mind.

Suddenly, he was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of flapping wings. He turned as Pedro flew into his hollow. "What up brotha?"

Nico smiled and sat up. "Just thinking."

"About what?" Pedro teased with a knowing smile on his face.

Nico grinned wider. "What do you think?"

"Hmm I wonder…is it Nattie?" He asked sarcastically. Nico laughed a little.

"Yeah…I can't stop thinking about her."

Pedro cooed. "Awww are you in love?"

Nico rolled his eyes. "I've only known her a day. I can't be in love with her." He looked away shyly. _Or can I?_

Pedro smirked. "Okay, if you say so. Anyways I came to see if you wanted to do a performance tonight at The Branch?"

Nico smiled and nodded. "Yes. I would love to! Me and Nattie will meet you at The Branch say about eight-ish?"

Pedro nodded and shrugged. "Cool with me. So I'll see ya there then, enjoy your day with Nattie." He shrugged his eyebrows and flew out of the hollow. Nico just shook his head as he watched his friend fly away. He sighed and stood up, ruffling his feathers and stretching. He looked up at the morning sunshine peeking through the treetops. He smiled and flew up through the canopy, adjusting his bottle cap, and soared in the direction of Nattie's hollow.

* * *

Nico stopped flying and looked around; he was definitely lost. He couldn't seem to remember where her hollow was, no matter how much he racked his brain. He was in a clearing, but it wasn't the right clearing.

"I am so confused!" Nico shouted loudly. He looked around. No answer. He sighed and closed his eyes; hoping to remember any details of where Nattie lives. Suddenly, something smacked into his side furiously and he went plummeting to the ground. Nico smashed onto the ground hard. He groaned painfully and opened his eyes to see a certain crazy canary hovering over him. Nico sat up and rubbed his head. "Hey Frankie, glad I ran into you. _Literally._"

Frankie flew down and helped him to his feet. "Sorry bro! I was kinda in a hurry."

Nico brushed himself off and asked, "Where were you going?"

Frankie looked at his wings shyly and mumbled, "To get someone…"

"Who?"

The blue eyed canary nervously smiled. "Mandy…"

Nico raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Oooh a girl!"

Frankie blushed and said, "Yeah…"

"Well that's great! I'm happy for you bro! But I kinda need a favor from you first." Nico replied.

Frankie's flustered face disappeared and he smiled. "Anything!"

"I need you to take me to your hollow. I can't seem to find it."

Frankie laughed. "Sure, I'll take to my hollow. Nattie's been waiting for you." He winked. A sideways grin spread across Nico's face.

"Really?" He breathed. Frankie chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah, she's been talking about you and everything! Come on, our hollow's this way." Frankie led the way as he and Nico made their way to the hollow. Frankie suddenly stopped in front of a rather large bush. He turned to Nico with a smile, "Get ready, 'cause once you enter, you ain't ever gonna wanna leave." He stepped through the bush leaving Nico stand there all confused. He rolled his eyes and strolled through the bush.

"Frankie, what are you-" His words caught in his throat. His eyes widened as he gazed upon a clearing. It was bright and beautiful. Shafts of light danced through the treetops, illuminating the sparkling stream that was weaving through the clearing. The small stream led to a small waterfall, surrounded by rocks. The white, frothy cascade of water fell into the plunge pool. There was bending tree clinging to the rocky cliff and overhanging the pool. Next to it were lush beds of grass and flowers.

Nico's eyes were wide as saucers as he walked forward; letting the soft grass slide against his feet. Each tree in the clearing were overrun by cherry blossoms, sending a cascade of pink, sweet smelling radiance overhead. Everything was so light and colorful, so beautiful and glistening. Nico has never felt more happier in a place since he first stepped foot in The Branch.

Frankie laughed at the look on his face. "I see you like."

Nico looked at him and said, "Like? I LOVE! This is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!" Nico paused and then had a smirk look on his face. "Well besides your sister."

Frankie rolled his eyes with a small smile. "Alright, c'mon lover boy! Our hollow's over here." He flew over to a very large oak tree with twisting ropes of vines choking the branches. The trunk itself was probably larger than The Branch. On it were unique carvings and pictures woven into the wood. Pictures of flowers, butterflies, hearts, and peace signs, music notes, you name it. Patterns of swirls and stripes surrounded the outside. In the middle of the trunk was a picture of three birds. Frankie on the left, Nattie on the right, and Maria in the middle. The happy family.

"Did you and Nattie draw this?" Nico asked.

Frankie nodded. "Yup! We've lived here our entire lives, why not make the best of it?" Nico smiled and followed Frankie to a twisted branch that led out of their hollow. He looked down at the strange branch and noticed some words. Taking a closer look, it said, 'Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you'll look back and realize they were the big things'

Nico cocked his head in Frankie's direction. "What are the little things?"

Frankie smiled. "All the things around you that don't stand out." He turned and walked into the hollow. Nico looked back down at the quote one last time before following him. When he walked in, his eyes immediately glued to the wondrous Nattie, who was smiling at him.

"Hey." She said in a soft voice. Nico smiled back and walked over to her. She was brushing through her feathers with a pinecone that made into a comb.

Nico watched her with a goofy smile on his face. Finally he commented, "You look beautiful."

Nattie blushed slightly and said, "Thanks." Then she playfully poked him. "So do you."

He laughed and she smiled, "So, what do you think of the clearing?"

Nico breathed through his thoughts. "I don't know if words can explain how amazing it is." Though he was talking about the clearing, he was thinking about her. They stared at each other for a moment, before they suddenly heard Frankie clear his throat.

They turned and saw Frankie looking quite uncomfortable. "Alright, well I'm going to go get Mandy now….I'll be right back." He fled the hollow quickly. Nattie shook her head with a smile as she walked over by her mother.

Nico followed her, saying, "Oh yeah, I forgot to ask. How's your mom?" Nattie looked at him and smiled.

"She's doing great today. No fever. I'm going to let her sleep though, then maybe we can take her outside later. If that doesn't ruin any of your plans."

Nico shrugged. "Sounds great! But I told Pedro that we'd meet him at The Branch at eight. He wants to do a performance. That cool with you?"

She nodded. "I'd love to see you guys perform. Frankie will be taking care of mom with his "friend" so I have the day off." She smirked. "With you."

Nico tipped his bottle cap flirtatiously. "Oh yeah." He moved closer to her. Nattie laughed a little and softly pushed him away.

"Come on, I've got something to show you." She sidled past him and flew out of the hollow door. Nico raised his eyebrows and with a sigh, he flew after her. She flew over to the roaring waterfall and fluttered over the bending tree that was hanging over it. The cherry blossom tree was at a large angle, almost parallel with the ground, with the bottom of it grasping the cliff and the pink branches hovering over the waterfall. It was an overall beautiful sight. Nattie swooped down and landed on the tree. She laid on her stomach, her head resting in her wings, and her face directed towards the cliff. Nico smiled at her and fluttered down in front of her. He also laid on his stomach, head resting in wings, staring dreamily at Nattie.

They sat in comfortable silence for a while before Nattie spoke up, "This is my favorite place to go. If mom's asleep and Frankie's out, I come here. It's so relaxing and serene."

Nico nodded. "Yeah it is. I like it." He looked at her and his stomach flipped. The sun was bouncing of her feathers, making her glow. Her blue eyes glistened as she looked down at him. She looked so radiant and glorious; it took his breath away.

Nico hadn't realized he had been staring at her until she asked, "Nico?" He snapped out of his stupor and embarrassingly smiled at her.

"Sorry." He looked down at his wings shyly. Suddenly, a thought came to his mind. He swallowed nervously and looked at Nattie. "Uh Nattie?"

Nattie looked at him slyly and said, "Yeah?"

"Is it possible to fall in love with someone after knowing them just one day?" He looked into her blue eyes sweetly.

Nattie's eyes shifted a little and she replied, "I don't know…"

"Do you believe in love at first sight?"

Nattie began to feel a little uncomfortable. "I don't know…why are you asking me these questions?"

Nico sighed, pondering if he should tell her or not. _What if she doesn't feel the same way? This could really ruin our friendship. But what if she does feel the same way? _Nico stared at her, the girl who's been in his mind for the past day. The girl who has changed his life over an apple. He has never in his life met a girl like her, and he's never felt this way with anyone. Nico cleared his seemingly dry throat and said, "Nattie, I've been telling myself that I'm not in love with you because we've only known each other a day. That's crazy right? But there's something about you that makes me feel…different. You're so real and yet you feel like a dream." He paused. Nattie stared at him, too shocked to speak. She wouldn't know what to say even if she wanted to. Nico continued, "Every time I'm around you I feel like a whole other person. I get all dazed and weird feeling whenever I see you, and you're amazing and funny and down to earth and just so incredibly beautiful."

Nico moved forward until he was sitting in front Nattie. She had also shifted position and was now sitting up. She didn't say anything, she just stared at him in awe. Nobody has ever told her anything like that before. Her face was filled with happiness but her eyes were filled with tears. She reluctantly turned away from him; wiping tears from her eyes. Nico stared at her confused. _I must've really messed that up! _

"What's wrong?" Nico asked sympathetically. "Did I say something offensive?"

Nattie sighed. "No what you said was sweet. But I…I just don't know. I mean, what if one day you decide you don't like me anymore and you just leave? I don't think I could handle that kind of heartache and I know I wouldn't be able to take another goodbye."

Nico reached over and wiped an escaping tear from her cheek. "Who said anything about goodbye? I'd never leave you Nattie."

"Yeah you say that now. But when the time comes you just…." She looked away again, not sure what to say anymore.

Nico cupped her chin with his wing and brought her face back to his. Then, he leaned forward and kissed her softly for a moment. He pulled back and looked her in the eyes and said, "I love you Nattie."

Nattie's heart leaped out of her chest. She stared at Nico, not sure how to respond. This wonderful guy she's just met yesterday just kissed her and told her he loves her. And now, looking at him, at everything he is. How sweet and kind-hearted he is. How funny and romantic he is. And how handsome he is with his chocolate brown eyes. How he was so nice to her mother. How he cared about her feelings like no one else did. He was perfect. And Nattie has never felt like she could trust someone more than she could trust him. She smiled, finally knowing her answer, she said, "I love you too Nico."

Nico smiled happily at her, and held her wing in his. She laughed and said, "Who would've thought that after just one day, all this could happen?" Her heart was still racing…in a good way.

He nodded and replied, "I know but I didn't want to wait a whole week to show my affection to you."

Nattie flushed, "Well you can show your affection to me whenever you want."

Nico laughed and asked, "What kind of affection are we talkin' about here?"

She smirked and wrapped her wings around him and kissed him. Nico snickered through the kiss and pulled away. She laughed too and the couple laid down on the tree, snuggling next to each other; both of them having the same dumbfounded smile on their faces.

* * *

Mandy followed Frankie into his hollow. He was right about how amazing everything was where he lived. It was absolutely beautiful. His hollow was just as great. She watched as Frankie walked over to an older looking canary laying in a large nest. He bent over her and kissed her cheek and said softly, "Hey mom, are you feeling okay?" The female canary slowly sat up in the nest and smiled.

"Yeah, actually I'm feeling a lot better today!" Her eyes suddenly shifted to Mandy, who was standing a few feet behind Frankie. "Who's this?"

Frankie looked back at Mandy and smiled. "This is Mandy, Mandy this is my mom."

Mandy walked over and batted her eyes sweetly. "It's so nice to meet you."

"It's so nice to meet you too Mandy. You can call me Maria." The mother canary grinned as Mandy looked around.

"I love where you live! It's so beautiful!" Mandy's eyes shifted to Frankie's and she smiled.

Maria looked between the two of them and smirked. _What a cute couple! _Instead of saying that out loud she said, "Yeah, it's beautiful. I haven't been outside in forever actually. I kind of miss it…"

Frankie's eyes glistened as he thought of an idea. "Well why don't we go outside then?"

Maria looked at her son, confused. "Really?"

Frankie smiled and walked over to his mother. "Yeah! You said that you feel fine today so let's enjoy some fresh air!" He took Maria's wings and helped her as she shakily stood up.

She smiled and said, "Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Frankie helped her as they walked to the hollow door and stepped out into the sunshine. Maria breathed in that warm, stuffy air that was mixed with the sweet smell of cherry blossom. Letting the soft breeze blow through her feathers, she sighed happily.

"Mom?" The three birds turned and saw Nattie and Nico flying towards them. Nattie flew to her mother and hugged her tightly. "You're outside!" Maria laughed and hugged her back.

"Yes, honey. I'm feeling much better today and I wanted to come outside. I almost forgot how beautiful it all is!" Maria said as she looked around. "Wouldn't you agree Nico?"

Nico smiled and walked forward, putting a wing around Nattie, he smiled, "Yeah it is."

Frankie and Maria raised their eyebrows and the latter asked with a smirk, "What do we have here?"

Nico and Nattie's faces turned bright pink as they smiled at each other. Nico reached over and softly stroked her cheek. They didn't say anything; they didn't have to. The way they looked at each other clearly showed how they felt towards each other.

Maria smiled in awe, "You two are so cute!"

Nico and Nattie smiled at her, when suddenly Nattie's eyes locked with Mandy's. She smirked and said, "You must be Mandy."

Mandy furrowed her eyebrows, "Yeah…how'd you know that?"

"A little birdie told me." Nattie winked at her brother and added. "I'm Nattie by the way, Frankie's sister. And this is Nico." Nattie pointed to Nico who smiled at Mandy.

"Glad to meet the girl who has captured Frankie's heart." Nico smirked at Frankie, who was busy glaring at him.

Mandy giggled as Nico continued. "You should hear Frankie's non-stop rambling about how great you are! Mandy, oh Mandy wherefore art thou Mandy?…" Nico continued to taunt Frankie while Mandy, Maria, and Nattie just laughed. Frankie's face was so flushed, he looked like he was turning into a flamingo. Nico laughed and jokingly pushed Frankie's shoulder. "I'm just kidding buddy."

Frankie avoided eye contact with Mandy and said, "Y-yeah I know."

Nico smiled and turned to Nattie. "You wanna go to the beach for a while? See what's going on?"

Nattie turned to her mother and asked, "Can I?"

Maria grinned and nodded. "Go on! Have some fun! I'll see you tonight."

The young canary walked over to her mother and hugged her. "Thanks mom! I'll be home soon." Then Nattie turned to Frankie and said, "You're staying here right?"

Frankie nodded. "No worries sister dear, I'll keep an eye on mom. You two have fun now." He shrugged his eyebrows. Nico breathed his laugh as Nattie rolled her eyes.

Nattie smirked and said, "And I'm sure you and Mandy will be doing the same." She winked and Frankie deadpanned.

"You know what? You just…just go to the beach already!" Frankie turned his sister around and everyone laughed. Frankie then turned to Nico and said, "Now I want her home by eleven o'clock. Not a minute later, do I make myself clear?"

Nico laughed and gave a small salute. "Crystal clear sir!"

Nattie rolled her eyes and said, "Alright dad, don't beat up my date yet! We'll see you guys later." She turned to leave and said to Mandy, "It was nice meeting you. Hope you'll be able to put up with _him_!" She gave her brother a sweet smile before flying off with Nico.

When they were gone, Maria turned to Frankie and said, "Well I think I'm going to clean the hollow since _somebody_ can't seem to be able to do it themselves." She gave him and unsatisfactory look.

Frankie sighed distressingly, "Mom, it is hard work having to keep a hollow the size of ours clean! I've tried but the dirt keeps comin' back!"

Maria tapped her son on the forehead. "Hence the reason you're supposed to clean it everyday."

Frankie laughed. "Uh….yeah…that's not gonna happen." Maria rolled her eyes and walked towards the hollow.

She called over her shoulder, saying, "Don't wander off too far."

Frankie suddenly turned to Mandy and smirked, "Wanna play a game?"

* * *

_Oh boy...who knows what strange games run through Frankie's mind all day? This should be interesting..._

_Haha Hope you liked! And now that Nico and Nattie are a couple you'll be seeing a lot of sweet, gushy romance stuff! Haha REVIEW! Please? See ya guys next chapter! :)_


	5. Chapter 5

Nico smiled as he and Nattie landed on the soft, white sand of the beach. He sighed happily. The purity of the blue sky and the warm sunlight soothed him like a tropical balm. The beach was wonderful; but Nico couldn't tear his eyes away from the little sunshine of beauty standing next to him. Finally she turned to him and asked with a sly grin on her face, "Why are you staring at me like that?"

Nico smiled flirtatiously and said, "Well it's kinda hard not to."

Nattie smirked and whispered, "Why?" Nico walked closer to her until he was standing face-to-face with her.

"Because you're beautiful." He whispered tantalizingly.

She giggled and leaned closer, letting her cheek slide against his, she murmured into his ear, "Oh am I?" Nico sighed and closed his eyes in an overwhelming feeling of attraction. He pulled away and looked into her eyes.

"Mhm." He nodded. His eyes widened as Nattie put her wings on his shoulders soothingly and kissed him. She pulled back and they smiled at each other.

Then Nico laughed, "You sure are a sparky apple aren't ya?"

She gave him a confused look and said, "Did you just call me an apple?"

Nico gave her crooked smile that made her heart skip a beat. "Uh huh."

Nattie step away from him and fake glared, crossing her wings. "Oh so now I'm an apple?"

He stepped closer and put an arm around her waist, pulling her closer. Whispering in her ear he said, "But you're my apple." She blushed and looked away from his chocolate brown eyes. He smirked and added flirtatiously, "And you're delicious."

She couldn't contain it anymore, she giggled and blushed madly; playfully pushing him away from her. "Stop it!" Then she grabbed his bottle cap and ran towards the water. "Come on, handsome, let's go for a swim!" She called over her shoulder as she got in the salty ocean waves.

Nico laughed and with a false scowl he exclaimed, "Hey! Get back here!" He ran into the water after her and she squealed and splashed him; trying to get away. Nico caught her and wrapped his wings around her, spinning her around. They both laughed and he cradled her in his wings as she placed his bottle cap back on his head. "Have I ever told you that I love you?" He sighed.

She smiled and said, "Yeah, actually I think you said it about an hour ago."

Nico leaned his forehead against hers. "Well I do."

Nattie giggled and wrapped her wings around his neck, enjoying the moment. "And I do too."

They looked into each others eyes again; not ever wanting to look away. Nico slowly leaned forward and pressed his beak onto hers. It was a soft, sweet kiss that made Nattie's heart flutter. This was, without a doubt, the **best **day ever. He gently pulled away and sighed in ecstasy. Nico then looked out at the shore and saw a few familiar birds.

"Look it's Pedro."

Nattie looked over and saw Pedro standing on the shore talking with a pair of blue macaws. She smirked and flew out of the water, "Race you!" Then she quickly flew to the birds leaving a baffled Nico behind.

"What?" He exclaimed and quickly flew after her. He finally landed next to her and said, "That's not fair!"

She rolled her eyes with a small smile. "Life's not fair."

Nico crossed his wings. "No, you're not fair." Then he pulled her and dipped her, staring deeply into her light blue eyes. "But I admire that." He let her up and she twirled next to Pedro.

"Hey Pedro!" She smiled.

Pedro smiled back. "Well hello there. I see you and Nico have become quite acquainted." He winked.

Nattie smiled at Nico and said, "I guess you could say that."

Blu raised an eyebrow as Nico's face turned a little red. "Looks like they've become _much _more than acquainted."

Nico and Nattie smiled sheepishly at each other and he wrapped a wing around her shoulders. They he gestured to Blu and Jewel and said, "This is Blu and Jewel. Guys this is Nattie."

Blu and Jewel waved and introduced themselves. Then, Nico asked, "What're you guys doing here?"

Pedro smiled. "Well we were going to visit Luiz. Would you two lovebirds care to join us?"

Nico nodded, "Sure!"

Nattie cocked her head to the side in confusion. "Luiz?"

"He's a friend of ours." Pedro stated with a small smirk. Nattie nodded.

Nico smiled and said, "Come on! He'd love to meet you!" Nattie smiled at him.

"Well then let's go!" She flew up into the air and looked down at him. Nico flew up next to her and twirled around her. She smiled, and batted her eyelashes. "Lead the way handsome."

His heart pumped faster and he smirked, "Gladly."

The group just smiled and shook their heads at the flirting couple. Pedro snorted. "Alright you two, let's go!" He zoomed forward leaving the laughing couple behind.

* * *

Maria flew out of the hollow tiredly. After cleaning she had started to become exhausted. She glanced around looking for her son; she finally spotted him and Mandy near the water. They were laughing and messing around. Maria smiled. They looked so happy together.

She flew down by them just in time to hear Frankie say, "Ha! You lose five points!"

Mandy guffawed. "What? How?"

"You stepped on that rock!" He pointed to the rock that Mandy was on.

"I thought we were suppose to step on the rocks!"

"No, rocks aren't safe! You lose five points!"

Mandy smirked. "You're stepping on a rock right now! So now _you _lose five points."

Frankie shook his head. "Nuh uh! This rock has an even number of crevices. That one doesn't!"

He then laughed at the bewildered frown on her face. Maria finally spoke up. "What are you two doing?"

Frankie looked at Mandy and back at his mom and shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't really know." Then he smiled and flapped up by his mother. "How ya feelin'?"

Maria sighed. "A little tired. I think I'm going to go to bed early. You two can stay out as long as you want. Goodnight." She kissed Frankie's cheek and flew up to the hollow; but not before saying, "It was nice meeting you Mandy."

Mandy smiled. "You too!"

"Goodnight mom!" Frankie called. He turned to Mandy and smiled. "So now what?" She shrugged and laid down in the soft bed of grass. She sighed happily, looking up at the sky. Frankie's heart skipped a beat as he watched her for a moment, before joining her in the grass. She glanced over at him and stared into his eyes for a while. They were so bright and full of life; it created goose bumps on her spine.

It was the same for Frankie. He couldn't stop himself from staring into her beautiful brown eyes; complimented with her long, curly eyelashes. Without thinking he whispered, "You are so beautiful."

Mandy was surprised at first but then she smiled. Frankie's eyes widened when he realized what he had just said. "Did I say that aloud?"

Mandy giggled and blushed. "Well thank you. I don't think anyone's ever told me that."

Frankie blinked in surprise. "Are you serious? What is wrong with the world?"

She giggled again and looked at him. "Has anyone ever told you that you're cute?"

He shrugged and shook his head and Mandy whispered. "Well what _is _wrong with the world?"

Frankie laughed a little and looked away shyly. _Why am I being shy? I'm never shy!_ He thoughts were interrupted when Mandy scooted closer to Frankie. He glanced at her and smiled. "Are you cold or something?" He asked noticing how close she was to him.

She smiled at him and said, "Nope." Frankie then put on a sideways grin.

"Oh."

Mandy laid her head on his shoulder and they looked up at the sky together. Frankie had a zillion thoughts and emotions running through him, but he ignored them all and focused his attention on the beautiful girl next to him.

* * *

"Oh Luiz? Are you here?" Nico's voice echoed throughout Luiz's garage. The birds looked around; Nattie noticed all the toolboxes covered in dust and dirt. She followed Nico, careful not to step on any of the cracks. _How could a bird live in this kind of environment? _She thought to herself. Suddenly she heard a small pattering sound; she turned and saw a large bulldog come sloppily running around the corner. Nattie gasped and held onto Nico's wing. He laughed and reassuringly squeezed her wing in his.

"Don't worry, he's friendly."

She smiled softly at him and nodded. Luiz smiled at her. "Yeah girlie! I'm nice; and I sure _love _to samba!" The dog jumped up into a pose and everyone laughed. "The name's Luiz."

Nattie smiled and kindly said, "I'm Nattie."

Luiz smiled back and noticed she and Nico were holding wings. "Ooooh what's this I see? _A little bit of lovin' in the air!_" The bulldog sang out the last part. Nattie smiled in Nico's direction and he winked at her.

Pedro flew up and did a flip in the air. "What up dog?"

Luiz smiled and hobbled over next to Pedro and replied, "Not much homebird! Doing little things here and there, not really exciting. What about you guys?"

Everyone talked about what has happened the past couple of weeks. The only really exciting thing that has happened was Nico meeting Nattie. The group talked for a while before Pedro noticed that the sun was setting. The color spectrum of the sky was changing into orange, pink, and red hues. "Uh Nico? It's getting kinda late. Are we still doing our performance tonight?"

Nico looked and also noticed the sky. "Oh yeah! I almost forgot! Yeah, we should probably go now." He then turned to Luiz, Blu and Jewel. "We'll see you guy's later!"

Luiz smiled. "Okay! Have fun! Thanks for stopping by! And it was nice meeting you Nattie."

Nattie smiled back and replied, "You too! I'll see ya around." She, Nico, and Pedro all waved and left the garage. They flew for a while before Nattie turned to Nico and said, "Um do you mind if I go check on my mom; I mean I know Frankie and Mandy are there but I just wanna make sure everything's okay."

Nico smiled and nodded understandingly. "Sure! You do what you need to do!"

"So I'll meet you guys at The Branch then?" Nico nodded and she added, "Don't start the performance without me."

Nico smiled and winked. "I wouldn't dream of it!" She laughed and turned around; flying in the direction of her hollow.

* * *

Nattie flew into her hollow and immediately heard the sound of laughter. She looked and saw Frankie and Mandy sitting cozily in his nest, quietly talking. She smirked and said, "Well don't you two look cozy together." Their heads snapped in her direction. Frankie smiled as he stood up. He and Mandy walked towards her and Mandy frowned when she noticed the sky.

"I should probably be getting home; my parents will get worried. I'll stop by again tomorrow." Mandy turned and smiled at Frankie. "Goodnight Frankie." She hugged him. He smiled and hugged her back.

"Goodnight." He held her there for a while, not wanting to let her go. Frankie was so lost in the moment that he didn't even realize he was squeezing her.

Mandy cleared her throat and said softly, "Frankie, you gotta let me go." Frankie's eyes widened and he jumped back, blushing.

"I'm sorry."

She giggled a little and then turned to Nattie. "Goodnight Nattie."

Nattie smiled. "Goodnight, I'll see ya tomorrow!" When she was gone, Frankie turned to his sister.

"What're you doing home? I thought you were with Nico?"

Nattie nodded. "I was, but I came to check up on you guys. How's mom?" She walked over to her mother and examined her sleeping form.

Frankie smiled. "She's fine! I took her temperature; it was a hundred and one when I checked it. Everything's fine!"

Nattie's smile disappeared. "Wait…..what was her temperature?"

Frankie's smile widened. "A hundred and one!"

Nattie's beak dropped open in shock. "Frankie! That's a fever!"

Her brother pursed his beak in confusion. "It is? Are you sure?"

She stared at him before letting out an exasperated sigh and running a wing down her face. Without saying anything, she ran over to the thermometer and placed it in her mother's mouth. When it beeped, Nattie took it out and read the temperature. Her face turned white and her heart stopped. "A hundred and three!" Tears filled her eyes and she covered her face with her wings and sobbed. "I don't understand! She was doing so well!"

Frankie frowned. "I'm sorry Nattie! I'm so dumb! If I were you, I'd hate me too!"

Nattie looked at him and saw the depressed and disappointed look in his eyes. She wiped her eyes and ran forward, hugging him tightly. She murmured into his ear, "I'd never hate you Frankie! It was just a mistake and I never really did tell you what the normal temperature is suppose to be. It's my fault." She cried into his shoulder. Frankie wrapped his wings around his sister.

"Hey, it's not your fault sis. We'll figure this out together, okay?" He smiled and pulled away.

She smiled back. "I don't know what I'd do without you Frankie."

Frankie snorted. "Please! You couldn't survive one day without me!"

Nattie sighed sarcastically. "Yeah you're probably right."

Frankie turned towards the door. "Alright, I'll go get mom some water. I'll be back….maybe."

"Frankie."

"Just kidding!" He smiled innocently and zoomed out the hollow.

* * *

Nico and Pedro sat at a round table in The Branch; waiting for Nattie to come back. Nico frowned; normally he would be dancing or trying to have a fun time, but the pulsating music blaring from the speakers was beginning to give him a headache. Nattie had been gone for at least an hour now, and he was beyond worried by now.

Pedro finally spoke up over the music. "Dude, maybe she blew you off?"

Nico glared at his friend. "Nattie wouldn't do that!"

"Ya never know!" Pedro shrugged. "Once a girl becomes the girlfriend, she starts to change. Perhaps she changed her mind about you."

Nico rolled his eyes and Pedro added, "See this is why I'll never get a girlfriend. They take the fun out of everything. Usually, you'd be all happy and having fun, but now-"

He was cut off when Nico held up his wings. "Dude! I'm still me! The only reason I'm upset is because I'm worried. What if something happened to her or her mother?"

"Well why don't you just go see if she's okay?"

Nico pursed his beak. "Should I? I don't wanna seem too clingy."

Pedro deadpanned. "Nico, you're worried bro! Trust me, you won't seem clingy at all! She'll probably feel flattered that you came to check on her."

Nico nodded. "Alright, you've persuaded me. I'm gonna go and check on her. I'm catch up with you later."

"See ya dude!" Pedro waved and Nico glided out of The Branch.

He flew as quickly as possible, thoughts and emotions swirling through his mind. Nico landed on the branch that weaved out of Nattie's hollow. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. He suddenly had this weird feeling, like he shouldn't be here. He was about to turn and leave when the door opened revealing a sad and depressed Nattie. Nico stared at her; she had been crying and her feathers were a little ruffled up. Tears overflowed her eyes and she ran into Nico's wings.

"Nattie, what happened?" Nico's voice was full of concern.

She sobbed a little and sniffed before saying, "It's mom. Her fever spiked again." Nattie didn't say anything else; she didn't have to. Nico understood and softly stroked her back and cooed reassuring compliments in her ear.

"It's gonna be okay. Don't worry." He whispered. Nattie pulled back looked at him. He reached over and wiped her eyes for her. "She's going to be fine. You have faith in that right?"

Nattie smiled weakly and nodded. "It's just…I don't know what I'd do if I lost her."

"Hey." Nico stopped her in a gentle voice. "You're not gonna lose her. Don't think about that."

She hugged him and then tugged on his wing, pulling him into her hollow. Together they stood and watched Maria as she slept silently. Nico broke the silence by asking, "Where's Frankie?"

Nattie didn't look up, she just sighed. "He's getting water."

Nico frowned and pulled Nattie's chin up so she was looking at him. "Hey, remember what I told you when we were on the trolley ride?"

Nattie's eyebrows came together in confusion. She thought for a moment before smiling. "To keep my head held high."

Nico nodded. "That's right."

Nattie smiled up at him and pulled him forward by the chest feathers. There they stood, in the middle of a silent hollow, kissing as if they were the only two in the world.

"WHOA!" Their kiss was interrupted and they turned and saw Frankie, who was standing in the doorway with a bucket of water in his wings. His eyes were wide and he was staring at them. "Mom is sick and you two are too busy kissing to-" He took a step forward and tripped causing to the bucket to fall and hit the floor with a splash. Frankie looked at the now empty bucket sadly. "G'awww" He looked up and glared at the couple. "Way to go! Your making out distracted me, and now I have to get more water!" He picked up the bucket and flew out of the hollow grumbling, "The nerve of some people."

The two canaries laughed as they watched Frankie's disappearing form. Nattie grabbed a large leaf and began wiping the water up. Nico was still laughing. "You know, I've noticed your brother is very clumsy."

Nattie sighed with a smile. "Yeah but I gotta love him."

Nico smiled and walked over to Maria. "Have you taken her to the Bird Sanctuary?"

Nattie looked up and frowned. "We have no way of getting her there. Me and Frankie can't carry her, and she can't fly. That's why we've been taking care of her here."

"Well I'm just thinking aloud over here, but if her temperature gets any higher we need to take her to the Sanctuary or else she could…" Nico trailed off, noticing the depressed look in Nattie's eyes. He sighed and walked over to her. "Look, we can get Rafael to take her. I know he'd do it if we ask him." Nico wrapped a wing around her. "I just think she needs proper care if she's this sick. I'm not saying you and Frankie aren't doing a good job, but she's not getting better."

Nattie didn't answer for a while; she just sat there and played around with the leaf in her wings. Finally she replied softly, "I just don't want to see her get poked and prodded with needles…"

"Well we can find a way to tell them not to use needles. And if they absolutely have to, we'll tell them to do it carefully. The doctors can figure out what's wrong with her. I'm sure."

Nattie listened to Nico and he talked. It definitely made sense. She looked at him and kissed his cheek. "Okay."

Nico smiled. "Good. But it's getting late, we'll wait until morning and see how she's doing; if her temperature is still high then I can go get Rafael."

"So I suppose you're gonna stay the night here then?" Nattie smirked.

"If you want me to."

She stood up and so did he. Then she pulled him closer and whispered, "Of course!"

"Nope! That's enough of that!" Frankie interrupted their kissing by walking in-between them with the bucket of fresh water. He walked over to Maria and gentle woke her; telling her to drink some water. She complied and drank some before falling asleep again.

Frankie set the water down and turned to the canary couple. "Well I'm going to bed. Don't stay up too late now." He shrugged his eyebrows and turned to his nest. Nico and Nattie both just smiled at each other. Nico stared into her eyes for a while; getting lost in the moment. That moment ended immediately when they heard the loud sound of Frankie's snore echo throughout the hollow.

Nattie sighed. "He's doing that on purpose you know, so he doesn't have to listen to us."

Nico laughed and winked flirtatiously. "He's smart in some ways." He began to leaned forward to kiss her again but she smirked and sidled past him. She bumped into him with her hip and then walked to her nest. Nico watched her with a crooked smile before following her into her soft nest. They cozily cuddled next together falling asleep in each others wings.

* * *

Frankie's eyes opened slowly when he heard a soft knock on the door. He rolled over to his side, trying to ignore it, but the soft knock sounded again. Frankie groaned and rubbed his eyes. Sloppily, he crawled out of his nest and rolled onto the floor. He tried to lift himself up to his feet but fell back down. Frankie laid there and grumbled to himself for a minute before finally standing up. He stretched and rubbed the back of his head as he walked to the door. He opened it up to be met with the beautiful Mandy. His face immediately broke out into a smile. "Hey."

Mandy smiled back. "Hey." Her heart skipped a beat when she saw him; his eyes were a little dazed from the sleep and his head feathers were all messy and ruffled up. The way he leaned against the doorway made Mandy bite her beak. He looked incredibly cute. "I was wondering if you maybe wanted to hang out with me today?"

Frankie's smile widened and he nodded; but it suddenly disappeared when he looked back at his sleeping mother. "But my mom has a fever again."

Mandy's eyes widened. "Oh I'm so sorry! I didn't know. I can leave…" She turned around to fly away but suddenly Frankie flew in front of her to stop her.

"No no no! Don't go! You just got here!" He smiled softly at her.

"But if I'm interfering then I shouldn't be here."

Frankie put a feather on her beak to silence her. "You're not interfering; you being here just made my day!"

Mandy smiled at her feet and said, "Really?"

Frankie nodded. "Yeah! And I'd be honored to spend the day with you!"

She looked back at him and frowned. "But what about your mother?"

Frankie pressed his beak together in thought. Finally he said, "Uh hold on, I'll be right back." He mumbled something and looked around. Then he picked up a small flower and handed it to Mandy. "Here take this flower; admire its beauty like I admire yours and I'll be right back!" He turned and flew into the hollow, leaving a flattered Mandy behind.

Frankie flew over to where Nico and Nattie were sleeping comfortably together. He paused and stared at them for a moment. "Awww." He sighed at their cuteness. They were cuddled together; Nattie having her head on Nico's shoulder and burying her face in his neck, and Nico having his arms wrapped around her with his head resting on the top of hers. "So cute!" Frankie cooed. Finally he shook his head and walked over to them. He gently poked them, trying to wake them up. When that didn't work, he shook them a little and said, "Nattie, Nico! Wake up sleepies!" They still didn't wake up so Frankie flicked Nico in the beak with his talons and Nico immediately opened his eyes.

"Ah! W-why did you do that?" Nico glared at him. His suddenly outburst woke Nattie up. She glanced at Nico and then up at Frankie.

"What's going on?"

Frankie ignored her and said, "I need to know if you'll let me hang out with Mandy for the day. I know mom's sick and stuff, so if you want me to stay here with you, I will. It's just, Mandy's waiting outside."

Nico and Nattie just smirked at Frankie's excited expression. Nattie spoke up, "You can hang out with her if you want to. You can do whatever you want, you're the oldest."

"Are you sure? I don't wanna just leave you here."

Nattie rolled her eyes and replied. "Don't worry. I've got Nico with me. We'll be fine."

Frankie sighed. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure!"

"Are you sure that you're sure?"

"Frankie!"

Frankie sighed in defeat. "But-"

"Frankie! It's fine. Go have a fun day and don't worry about mom." Nattie said firmly. Frankie didn't respond, he just stared sadly at Maria.

"But what if something happens while I'm gone? I won't be here for her."

Nattie frowned and got up from her spot next to Nico. She walked over to Frankie. He thought she was going to hug him but instead she lightly slapped him in the face.

Frankie stared at her in shock. He waved his wings around him in confusion. "Neh?"

"Nothing's going to happen Frankie! I don't wanna hear those words come from you ever again! Understand me?"

Frankie looked down and grumbled. "Yes ma'am."

"Repeat?"

"YES MA'AM!" Frankie shouted with a smile. Nattie smiled at him.

"Good. And don't worry. Me and Nico are taking her to the sanctuary today. Maybe we can find out what's going on with her."

Nico suddenly appeared next to Nattie. "Speaking of which, I should probably go get Rafael."

Frankie held his wings out. "I'll get Rafael for you. It's the least I can do. Just tell me where he lives."

Nico shrugged with a smile. "Okay…" Then he gave Frankie directions on how to get to Rafael's hollow.

Frankie smiled. "Stellar! I'll send him right over!" He gave Nattie a kiss on the cheek and then walked over to Maria. After saying goodbye to her he turned back to Nattie. "I'll be back by tonight." Then he winced again and said, "Are you sure?"

Nattie and Nico both groaned. "YES!" The Nattie added, "Get out of here! Don't worry about mom, the men in white know what they're doing!"

Frankie didn't say anything. He hesitated and Nattie pointed at the door. "GO!"

Nico laughed and Frankie held his wings up. "Okay okay! I'm going!" He laughed and flew out of the hollow.

Frankie saw Mandy sitting on the branch, holding the flower and quietly talking to herself. He smiled and watched her for a second, listening to what she was saying.

"I love him, I love him not. I love him, I love him not…" She continued saying this until a muffled laughter from behind her. She turned and saw Frankie standing there, covering his beak with his wing, trying not to laugh. She blushed and stood up. "How long have you been standing there?"

Frankie chuckled and walked over to her. "Oh just for the past thirty seconds. 'I love him, I love him not'" Frankie mocked her for a while, then laughed. "So who's this Casanova that you love?"

Mandy's face turned bright red and she looked away from his gaze. "Nobody, I was just messing around." Then she said, changing the subject, "How's your mom?"

Frankie frowned. "She's still sick. Nico and Nattie are taking her to the sanctuary today. I still feel like I should be going with them. My mom's a little bit more important than you." His eyes suddenly widened where he realized what he had just said. "I DIDN'T MEAN THAT! NO! I'M **SO** DUMB!" He laid down on the branch and covered his face with his wings. "I hate myself!"

All Mandy could do was laugh. She doubled over. Finally she wiped her eyes and said, "It's okay. You're right; your mom is way more important!"

Frankie frowned. "But you're just as important to me as she is." Then he pounded on the branch with his wings and feet. "Why am I so dumb?"

Mandy laughed again and bent down and kissed his cheek. "You're not dumb Frankie. You're actually the complete opposite."

Frankie's eye were as wide as saucers. He softly touched his cheek and smiled. "…heh heh…..gee thanks." He blushed. Mandy giggled and helped him stand up.

"Come on Romeo, let's go."

Frankie stopped her. "Wait do you mind if we make a quick stop at Rafael's hollow. It'll be fast, I promise."

Mandy smiled. "Sure! We can go to Rafael's real quick."

Frankie smiled back. "Awesome! Let's go!" He took off of the branch and flew away. Mandy smiled and shook her head as she followed.

What they didn't know, was the danger that was lurking ahead of them.

* * *

"I'M GOING TO DIE HERE!" Those were the only words Frankie could choke out of his mouth, for five little toucans were viciously jumping his neck. Mandy could help him because she was too busy flying away from ten other toucans. Frankie watched in horror as four more toucans headed his way at a fast speed and smashed into his abdomen. Frankie screamed in pain but his scream was cut off by Mandy who was thrown on top of him. Frankie involuntarily wrapped his wings around her and when he realized she was on top of him, he smiled flirtatiously. "Well hello there." Suddenly, the whole group of toucans attacked them again, Mandy hid her face under Frankie's wings and screamed. Frankie just whimpered and said, "Mandy, if I die here today, I just wanted you to know that I-"

"Hey get off of them! How many time have I told you? You do not attack daddy's friends!" Frankie and Mandy turned to see Rafael flying down from his hollow.

One of the little toucans looked at Frankie and frowned. "But daddy, I've never seen these birds before?"

"That's because I haven't introduced you yet. This is Frankie and Mandy. Guys, these are my children." Rafael smiled best he could through all the kids climbing on him. Frankie stood up, pulling Mandy with him and sighed in exasperation.

"These are all of your children?"

Rafael nodded. "Yup. Nineteen, one just hatched."

Frankie and Mandy's beaks dropped open and she said, "How do you take care of all these children?"

Rafael shook his head. "It's not easy, trust me. Maybe you two will understand one day." He winked and Frankie and Mandy blushed. The toucan laughed and said, "So you two going out for a romantic day?"

Frankie rubbed his neck and replied, "Sorta, but we need a favor from you first."

"What is it?"

Frankie sighed sadly. "Well my mom has a high fever and we're worried. We want to take her to the sanctuary but we have no way of getting her there. Do you think you could carry her there for us?"

Rafael smiled softly and said, "Sure, I'll take her. Just let me go tell Eva real quick."

"Thanks Ralfy." When he disappeared, Frankie turned to Mandy. "My neck hurts."

Mandy giggled. "Want me to kiss it and make it better?" She winked flirtatiously. Frankie's eyes widened and he looked away blushing. _Stop blushing! You're gonna look stupid! _Frankie swallowed and put on a flirty smile and turned back to her. He stepped closer to her but tripped over his foot and fell to the ground. Mandy just laughed. "Smooth Romeo!"

"I hate everything." Frankie mumbled into the ground.

As he said that, Rafael flew back outside and upon seeing Frankie facedown on the ground he asked, "What are you doing?"

Frankie looked up and said, "uhhh counting…..dirt?" His eyes narrowed in confusion of what he said. Rafael just gave him a weird look.

Mandy laughed as Frankie stood up and dusted himself off. "You sure are clumsy aren't ya?"

"Yeah…." Was all he could say. He looked at her and smiled.

Rafael smirked at the two of them. They finally peeled their eyes away from each other and Frankie said, "So I'm guessing you'll need directions on how to get to my hollow huh?"

Rafael nodded and as Frankie gave him directions, Mandy couldn't help but stare at him. _He's so cute. _She smiled the more he talked. When he was done, Rafael flew away and Frankie turned to Mandy. "So we gonna hit The Branch or what?"

Mandy nodded. "Sure! I'll race you?"

"You're on!"

* * *

Frankie and Mandy laughed loudly as they crashed into The Branch. Mandy exclaimed, "I win!"

Frankie guffawed. "Nun uh! I beat you!"

Mandy put a wing on her hip and gave him a look. "I don't think so."

He laughed. "Well I do."

She laughed with him and they walked to an open table and sat down. They talked for a while before Mandy said, "I'm kinda in the mood to dance. Can you dance?"

Frankie shrugged and nodded. "Yeah I'm pretty good."

"Awesome! I'm going to request a song." She got up and went to the D.J. and Frankie just watched her. His heart was pounding. _What if I mess up? She'll hate me! _He continued internally arguing with himself when Mandy suddenly came up to him. Smiling, she took his wing in hers and pulled him out to the dance floor. The music started to play and Frankie smiled as Mandy put a wing on his shoulder and firmly held the other one out. Frankie gently put his wing on her back, under her shoulder blade. He noticed her hips sway perfectly to the music.

_Follow me into my world_

The music suddenly got faster and Frankie pulled Mandy closer and they walked to the side together.

_Let your worries fade with every step you take_

_Baby, whatcha waiting for?_

_Let the tango take control_

Frankie stopped and Mandy twisted her hips and gently kicked the back of his leg. Frankie stepped backwards just as she stepped forward. This continued for a while.

_Feel the music inside your soul, whoa_

_My hand is out_

_Just grab a hold_

Mandy placed her right foot behind Frankie's left foot and slowly dragged it up his leg. She stopped at his hip and bent backwards. Frankie smirked and supported her back.

_(Watch the time just fade away)_

She faced him again, looking into his eyes. Frankie took a stepped forward and she lifted her foot and placed it on his. With his foot, he lifted her up and she jumped to the side. Frankie now stood behind her with his left wings around her waist and his right holding onto hers. They walked around like that as the music sounded.

_Watch time fade away_

_(My arms will keep you safe)_

_My arms will keep you safe_

Frankie spun her out and then back in. Then Mandy kneeled down with her leg extended out backwards. She slowly rose up and spun around again.

_(It's just you and me)_

_Girl, it's just you and me_

_(Dancing in this dream)_

_Dancing in this dream_

Frankie and Mandy shared fancy footwork as they moved across the floor. By now there was a circle of birds surrounding them.

_Whatever you do don't wake me up_

_I know the feeling's real_

_I won't let it stop, no_

Mandy spun around so that her back was to Frankie. She held her wings backwards and around his neck. Frankie gently held onto her waist as her legs spread apart into a splits; then he pulled her back up and their legs traced each other's in circles. Frankie and Mandy took a step to the side, with Mandy's back still towards him. She held onto his wing and he spun her out.

_Don't be afraid, take my hand_

_Forget the world_

_Will you dance, dance with me?_

_Pudemos bailar eternamente_

They now faced each other, in the regular tango position, and circled around each other as they moved across the dance floor. The whole time, Frankie couldn't stop smiling.

_Trust in me, take a chance_

_Feel the tango_

_When you dance, dance with me_

_Pudemos bailar eternamente_

As the second verse came to play, Mandy kicked her leg out towards the crowd and then spun towards Frankie. He caught her and dipped her as she kicked her leg again. Then, he brought her back up to his face and they smirked seductively at each other.

_Now I have you next to me_

_Everything is how it should be, oh yeah_

_Baby, don't fight the feeling_

They circled around the dance floor again, never taking their eyes off each other's.

_We're floating on the clouds_

_If I could I'd never come back down, no, no_

_Baby, just keep on groovin', groovin'_

The music started to pick up again and as it did, Mandy stopped and wrapped her left leg around Frankie's right hip; then, she slowly unfolded her right leg and pointed it straight up into the air. She never took her eyes off of Frankie's. The crowd cheered; mostly for the fact that most birds aren't that flexible.

_(As time fades away)_

_As time fades away_

_(My arms will keep you safe)_

_My arms will keep you safe_

Frankie laughed as Mandy(who was still in the same position) placed her right leg on his shoulder. She still had her left leg wrapped around his hip, so now Frankie was holding her up. He supported her back and they spun around for a while.

_(It's just you and me)_

_Girl, It's just you and me_

_(Dancing in this dream)_

_Dancing in this dream_

Finally, he thrust her up and she jumped off of him. With both feet landing perfectly on the floor, she circled around Frankie, flirtatiously twisting her hips to the beat.

_Whatever you do don't wake me up_

_I know the feeling's real_

_I won't let it stop, no_

Frankie stepped forward at the perfect time so that his foot landed right where her foot used to be. Taking her wing in his, he placed his other wing on her waist and he stepped to his right as she stepped to her right. They moved in a circle together at the chorus.

_Don't be afraid, take my hand_

_Forget the world_

_Will you dance, dance with me?_

_Pudemos bailar eternamente_

Mandy twisted her hips and legs as she stepped forward. She suddenly kicked her leg upwards and Frankie caught it; he placed it on his shoulder and supported her as she dipped backwards. The crowd erupted again and she swung her leg off his shoulder.

_Trust in me, take a chance_

_Feel the tango_

_When you dance, dance with me_

_Pudemos bailar eternamente_

Suddenly, the music stopped and slowed down drastically. It was not replaced with romantic piano music. Frankie and Mandy faced each other and he spun her around and pulled her closer. They worked together on slow, elegant, and fancy footwork; lost in each other's eyes.

_Dance with me_

_(I'm dancing with you)_

_For this moment in time_

_(My dreams have come true)_

Frankie dipped her until the tip of her head feathers touched the floor. Then he brought her back up and to his face; their beaks were an inch away from each other.

_My darling, just dance with me_

_If only one night_

Suddenly, the music picked up again and Frankie picked Mandy up, spinning her over his shoulder, and across the back of his neck and caught her with his other wing. She landed and spun out and then in, and then back out and back in, and he dipped her just as the music stopped. The whole thing happened so fast that the crowd went crazy when it was over.

_Don't be afraid, take my hand_

_Forget the world_

Ecstatic that the move worked, Frankie decided to be goofy and randomly moon-walked around Mandy causing her and the audience to laugh.

_Will you dance, dance with me?_

_Pudemos bailar eternamente_

_Trust in me, take a chance_

_Feel the tango_

_When you dance, dance with me_

_Pudemos bailar eternamente_

The music faded out and the dancing couple wrapped their wings around each other in a tight hug and laughed as the crowd exploded into an uproarious series of applause. Frankie picked her up and spun around with her. She laughed when he put her down. Frankie stared into her eyes and without thinking he said, "I love you."

Unfortunately, the crowd was still cheering loudly and Mandy couldn't hear what he said. She looked at him confused, "I'm sorry what did you say?"

Now it was Frankie's turn to be confused, "What?"

Mandy smiled and laughed a little. She looked at the crowd and motioned for them to quiet down a little bit. They complied quickly, wanting to hear what they had to say. Mandy looked at Frankie, "What did you say?"

Frankie felt butterflies in his stomach, everyone was staring at him. "It's nothing, I'll tell you later." He shook his head. She nodded a little disappointed, but smiled anyways.

Once the crowd calmed down and more performances came on, Mandy and Frankie danced some more with each other and talked a little, happy to be able to spend some time with each other. Then they finally decided they were getting tired of all the noise so, together they flew out of The Branch. They landed on the roof of a taller building and smiled at each other. After a while of silence, Mandy said, "You're an amazing dancer!"

Frankie smiled at her. "Thanks, but you're way more amazing!"

Mandy blushed a little and softly said, "Thanks." She looked into his eyes again, making her heart leap. They were the brightest, softest eyes she's ever seen. She just couldn't force herself to look away. Frankie smiled sheepishly, noticing she was staring at him. Not that he minded, he was doing the same thing. She finally looked away and said, "You know what I don't get? Is how you can be so clumsy and trip over nothing, yet you dance like a professional. I mean, your footwork is incredible. You didn't make one false step. How did you do it?"

Frankie shrugged. "Well my dad was a dancer so I guess it runs in the family."

"I've never met your dad."

Frankie frowned a little and said, "He died when I was younger. Nattie was about a year old, I was about three. I've watched my mom and dad dance and I just thought it was the most amazing thing ever! Before I knew it I was dancing and busting out moves everywhere I went."

Mandy frowned. "I'm sorry…about your dad I mean."

"It's okay. I barely knew him but I'm glad I was able to watch him dance. You should of seen him, it was amazing!" He sighed and then smiled.

Mandy smiled back at him. "I'm sure it was. I get my dancing from my mom."

He smirked. "Well you sure are good!"

She laughed but something suddenly occurred to her. "What was that thing you were telling me? After we danced, you said something but I didn't hear it."

Frankie's eyes widened. He looked away, debating on whether he should say it or not. He bit his beak, clearly conflicted. Mandy noticed and gently touched his shoulder. "You can tell me. I'm not gonna make fun of you." He looked at her and froze. She had to look beyond gorgeous at that particular moment. He stared into her big, beautiful brown eyes and couldn't look away.

Finally he swallowed and snapped himself out of his daze and said nervously, "I-I…love you." Mandy stared in shock and Frankie immediately felt like an idiot. He looked away and said, "I'm sorry, that was out of line."

Mandy continued to stare at him before she suddenly burst into laughter. Frankie blinked and stared at her confused. "Aw great you're laughing at me! Man I'm dumb! I hate how I'm so dumb! GAH!" He laid on his back and hid his face in his wings. This only made Mandy laugh harder.

She finally wiped her eyes and pulled Frankie back into a sitting position. "I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing at what you said."

Frankie frowned, "What? When I said 'I love you'?" He mumbled and Mandy giggled. She leaned over and cupped his face in her wings and kissed him full on the beak. Frankie's eyes shot open wide and he froze. It wasn't until about ten seconds into the kiss that he realized she was actually kissing him. He relaxed and his eyelids fluttered shut and he wrapped his wings around her and kissed her back.

When they finally pulled apart, Mandy smiled and sighed, "I love you too."

Frankie was still in shock from the kiss. That was he his first real kiss and it was with the most amazing girl he's ever met. "You better catch me because I'm pretty sure I'm going to faint."

Mandy laughed and leaned her head on his shoulder and looked out at the city. Frankie was still a little awestruck but he gladly put his wing around her with that same goofy smile he had when he first met her.

* * *

_I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I know, I took forever to update! As Frankie would say, "I'm dumb!" Lol The dance scene was what took me a while to do, so I hope you like it! And yes, Frankie and Mandy are now a couple so that means more stuff is gonna happen! I hope you guys like romance because a lot of it is on your way! So anyways, I REALLY wanna hear what you you think, so PLEASE leave a nice, fantastic review, and I'll see you next chapter! :)_

_Btw, the song was called, "Dance with me" By Drew Seeley. Aww yeh!_


	6. Chapter 6

_Wow, I got this up much faster than I planned! Hmmm anyways, ENJOY!_

* * *

Nico wrapped his wing around Nattie as they waited in the sanctuary. They've been waiting there for at least an hour now, and there has been no word on Maria. Silence. That's all that filled Nico's ears. It was killing him inside and out. Suddenly he heard a soft sniffle and he turned and saw a tear escape Nattie's eye. Nico sighed sadly, knowing how hard it must be for her. He was about to say something when a commotion sounded by the window. Their heads snapped in the direction and they saw Frankie and Mandy enter with beaming smiles.

"That was HILARIOUS!" Frankie laughed.

Mandy nodded with a giggle. "That guy was not happy with you."

"Well he should've known better than to take someone else's fry!"

"But that _was _his fry!"

Frankie laughed and was about to respond, but he noticed his sister. "Nattie?" Frankie frowned and walked over to her. "Is everything okay?"

Nattie shrugged and looked at the floor sadly. Frankie sighed and glanced at Nico who said, "We haven't heard anything yet."

Frankie swallowed and sat down by Nattie. "It's going to be okay. I promise you! No matter what happens, I won't let anything happen to you." He hugged his sister tightly. "You'll always have your big brother by your side," He paused and smirked. "and of course Nico."

Nico smiled and wrapped his wing around Nattie with a soft kiss on her cheek. She smiled at them. "Thanks."

There was a moment of awkward silence before Mandy spoke up, "Do you want me to leave…?"

Frankie looked up at her confused. "No."

Mandy laughed a little. "Okay…"

Frankie smirked, realizing that Nico and Nattie still didn't know about their new relationship. He stood up and took Mandy's wing in his and then dipped her. He planted a small kiss on her beak and spun her out. Mandy blushed and Frankie looked at his sister and Nico. They both had knowing smiles on their faces.

Nico stood up and twirled his bottle cap a little while saying, "Well, well, well. What do we have here?"

Frankie smiled. "You guys missed it. The most _amazing _day ever!" He gave Mandy an adoring look and Nattie smiled sweetly.

"Aww you guy's are cute! Looks like we can double date now! You know, once mom gets better." She sighed a little but still had a smile on her face.

Mandy frowned. "You still don't know what's wrong with her?"

Nattie shook her head with a frown and Mandy added, "I'm sorry! I wish there was something I could do." She sat down next to Nattie.

Nattie could feel the tears come back. "Me too."

Everyone sat in silence for a while, not sure what to say. Suddenly, Nico had an idea and he looked at Frankie and smiled. Frankie looked at him with a confused glare. Nico walked over to him and whispered, "Follow my lead."

Frankie, still a little confused, nodded and before anyone could do anything, Nico started to sing in a soft, harmonious voice.

_Where is the moment we needed the most_

_You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost_

Frankie smiled as Nattie and Mandy's head snapped in his direction.

_They tell me your blue skies fade to grey_

_They tell me your passion's gone away_

_And I don't need no carryin' on_

Nico glanced at Frankie and the blue eyed canary sang the next verse.

_You stand in the line just to hit a new low_

_You're faking a smile with the coffee to go_

_You tell me your life's been way off line_

_You're falling to pieces everytime_

_And I don't need no carryin' on_

Nico and Frankie sang the chorus, perfectly blending their voices together.

_Cause you had a bad day_

_You're taking one down_

_You sing a sad song just to turn it around_

_You say you don't know_

_You tell me don't lie_

_You work at a smile and you go for a ride_

Nattie and Mandy both smiled at their boys, who were swaying to the beat of the song.

_You had a bad day_

_The camera don't lie_

_You're coming back down and you really don't mind_

_You had a bad day_

_You had a bad day_

_Well you need a blue sky holiday_

_The point is they laugh at what you say_

_And I don't need no carryin' on_

Nico and Frankie reached over and grabbed Nattie and Mandy by the wings and danced with them for a while.

_You had a bad day_

_You're taking one down_

_You sing a sad song just to turn it around_

_You say you don't know_

_You tell me don't lie_

_You work at a smile and you go for a ride_

_You had a bad day_

_The camera don't lie_

_You're coming back down and you really don't mind_

_You had a bad day_

Nattie laughed as Nico spun her and dipped her, placing a small kiss on her beak.

_(Oh.. Holiday..)Sometimes the system goes on the blink_

_And the whole thing turns out wrong_

Frankie, being the dork he is, decided to do some out of style dance moves; such as the robot and the sprinkler. This made everyone laugh and Nico snorted, "Dude!" Then he continued singing, still laughing a little from Frankie's performance.

_You might not make it back and you know_

_That you could be well oh that strong_

_And I'm not wrong_

Nico smirked and wrapped a wing around Nattie. Frankie did the same with Mandy.

_So where is the passion when you need it the most_

_Oh you and I_

_You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost_

As the final chorus came, all four birds sang along together, dancing and having fun.

_Cause you had a bad day_

_You're taking one down_

_You sing a sad song just to turn it around_

_You say you don't know_

_You tell me don't lie_

_You work at a smile and you go for a ride_

_You had a bad day_

_You've seen what you like_

_And how does it feel for one more time_

_You had a bad day_

_You had a bad day_

It ended when the group of birds all fell to the floor, laughing. Nattie sat up, still laughing, and said, "That song is suppose to make us even more depressed. Why are we laughing?"

Frankie shrugged with another laugh. "Because we're weird."

Everyone nodded in agreement when they suddenly heard a familiar voice call out, "Yeah you are!"

Everyone turned and saw Pedro standing on the window sill with a very amused expression on his face. He flapped down and landed next to Nico.

Nico gave him a confused look and asked, "How did you know where we were?"

Pedro smiled, "I stopped at Ralfy's today and he told me what happened." He then frowned and looked at Nattie and Frankie. "I'm sorry about your mom."

Nattie smiled and gave him a small hug and Frankie fist bumped him, saying, "Thanks bro, but she'll be okay. I've got faith in her."

Pedro smiled and then turned to Nico, punching his wing, he exclaimed, "DUDE! We still have to do a performance. You know, once their mom gets better."

"We will, don't worry!" Nico chuckled "Let's just see what's wrong with Maria first."

As if on cue, the doctor came out of the operating room. Everyone's heads snapped in the doctor's direction, waiting for him to speak. The doctor walked over and sat on the chair and said, "I'm assuming you're all here for Maria?" The birds all nodded their heads and the doctor continued, "Well, we'll just get to the point here, she has Legionnaires' disease."

Frankie gave the doctor a weird look and said, "Why is that doctor talking with his mouth full, I can't understand what he's trying to say!"

Nico laughed, "Dude, Legionnaires is the name of the disease."

Frankie paused for a moment and finally said, "Oh."

The doctor continued, "it is a sometimes fatal form of pneumonia that is caused by bacterium." Nattie and Frankie frowned in confusion and the doctor added, "It sometimes causes fever, cough, headache, chills, and so on. We're going to give her antibiotics and we're going to keep her here over night just to be sure, but it looks like she's going to be just fine."

Everyone sighed in relief and the doctor stood up, "You were lucky we caught the disease just in time; if we waited any longer the results could've been even worse." He walked over to a cabinet, with his back turned to the birds.

Nico turned to Nattie and smiled, "See, she's going to be fine. The doctors are going to give her medicine and she'll be better soon."

Nattie smiled and wrapped her wings around him. "I love you, ya know that?"

Nico hugged her back and said, "I love you more."

Frankie smiled at them and when they pulled apart, he said to Nattie, "I like him much better than Nathanial."

Nico looked at him confused then glanced at Nattie who was glaring at her brother. "Nathanial?"

She sighed and turned to him. "I'll tell you about it later."

Nico frowned but nodded. Mandy suddenly spoke up from her spot next to Frankie. "Wow, that is a big needle!"

Nattie looked as the doctor turned around with a large needle that seemed a foot long, but was really only two inches. Her eyes widened and her heart stopped. Nico gulped and looked at Nattie; he noticed her face has gone a little pale. "Nattie-" Before he could stop her, Nattie shot up into the air and flew at the doctor full force, causing the needle to fall from his hand.

She started pecking him in the face, exclaiming, "You are NOT going anywhere near my mother with that thing!"

Nico and Frankie flew up and grabbed Nattie, struggling to hold her. Nico tried to calm her down but he couldn't because she was too busy glaring daggers at the doctor. Frankie held her by her wings and Nico walked in front of her, "Nattie, calm down!"

"No! He's going to try and put that needle in her! I'm not gonna let it happen!"

Nico suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her. She silenced quickly. He pulled away a minute later and looked her in the eyes. "It's going to be okay."

She stared at him, not sure what to do. He continued, "That medicine is going to make her feel better. You want that for your mom right?"

"But-"

"Right?" He said firmly. Nattie's shoulders slumped and she nodded. He smiled and added, "Then you have to trust me okay?"

Nattie looked at him and softly smiled. "I trust you." She kissed him again softly. He smiled and pulled away.

He looked down at his wing and laughed, "You sure put up a good fight."

Nattie looked at his wing and noticed three big scratch marks running up it. Her beak dropped open and she exclaimed, gently grabbing his wing, "I did that to you?" She pouted and looked at him. "I'm so sorry!"

Nico just laughed, "Don't worry about it. I like a girl who can put up a fight."

She smiled a little and bent over and kissed his wing softly. "Better?"

"Much." They suddenly heard a muffled laughter and turned to see Pedro on the floor, clutching his stomach, laughing.

Nattie glared at him. "Why is that so funny?"

Pedro stood up, wiping his eyes and shrugged, "Idunno."

Frankie laughed, "What the wonk? Man, this is serious business and you're just in your own little world, laughing away!" Frankie started laughing again; for some reason he thought that was really funny.

Nico put a wing on his forehead and looked at the floor with a blank stare. "What is going on?"

Frankie continued laughing as he and Mandy began cleaning up broken shards of glass on the floor. The doctor, who got a new needle, walked over by Nattie. "Don't worry little one. I promise I won't hurt your mother." Nattie hesitated but seeing the look on Nico's face, she couldn't help but smile. The doctor left the room and the four birds just sat and quietly talked for a while. Then Frankie finally said, "So are you going to stay here tonight Nattie?"

Nattie nodded. "I'd like to stay here and keep an eye on mom. What are you gonna do?"

Frankie glanced at Mandy and shrugged. "What do you wanna do?"

Mandy pursed her beak. "Whatever you wanna do."

Frankie smiled and looked at Nico, "You gonna stay here with Nattie?"

He nodded and then looked at Pedro. "You can stay too if you want."

Pedro shook his head. "Nah man, I don't know what you two plan on doing here. And I don't wanna be here when it happens."

Frankie looked at him and nodded. "Amen." They fist bumped and Pedro added, "But I'm not staying with you and Mandy either. Just sayin'! I'll be in my bachelor pad!"

Everyone rolled their eyes and the cardinal exclaimed, "Well, I'll see ya'll tomorrow! We should make plans; go to the beach or something! You pickin up what I'm puttin down?"

Frankie nodded and said, "I'm down with that! Whattya say m'lady?" He turned and smiled at Mandy who also nodded.

"Sounds good to me!"

Pedro flipped in the air. "Awesome! Nico? Nattie?"

Nattie winced. "I'm not sure; it depends on how well mom's feeling tomorrow."

Pedro nodded understandingly. "Okay, I'll come by to check tomorrow morning." He flew towards the window and exclaimed, "Lata birds!" Then he disappeared into the night sky.

When he left, Frankie turned to Nattie and Nico. "Well you two lovebirds can sleep here." Then he smirked adoringly at Mandy. "That means we get the hollow to ourselves." He winked flirtatiously.

Mandy blushed and said, "Don't be getting any ideas, lover boy, we're just gonna sleep."

Frankie looked at her confused. "Well what did you think we were gonna do?" Suddenly, he realized what she thought and his eyes widened. "Aww what? We've gone out one day and you're already thinking about that? Geez Mandy…" He shook his head and Mandy guffawed.

"No! I mean…well I…I…gah shut up!" She playfully shoved him and walked away. Frankie snickered.

Nattie smirked. "Well you two have fun then." She winked and turned away pulling Nico with her. "We'll see ya tomorrow."

"Goodnight!" Frankie and Mandy waved. Frankie turned to her and smiled, "Shall we?"

She smiled back and said, "We shall." Then, together they flew off into the night sky.

When they were gone, Nattie smiled sweetly, "They're so cute!"

Nico crooned, "Not nearly as cute as you, my love."

She smirked and wrapped her wings around him and said, "Get used to it."

Nico smiled, _she sure is being flirty lately. _She smirked and, holding his wing, she pulled over to the guest bed. They snuggled together and sat in silence for a while, listening to each other's breathing. She looked at him and whispered, "Nico?"

He looked at her and she tilted his bottle cap out of his eyes, leaned forward and kissed him. After a while, they pulled apart and he asked, a little awestruck, "What was that for?"

She smiled smugly and shrugged, "I don't know; for being here for me when I needed you."

He smiled and kissed the top of her head. "Anytime." After a few more moments of silence, a sudden thought occurred to him. "So, who's this Nathanial?"

Nattie's eyes widened and she looked away. "You don't need to know about him."

Nico frowned. "Nattie, you can tell me anything."

She sighed and after a few minutes, she finally said, "He was my boyfriend."

Nico furrowed his eyebrows, waiting for more. She continued, "I met him a few weeks ago actually. We met at the beach. I thought he was the one, he was so sweet and nice to me. Just like you. I thought I loved him. And I thought he was nice to my family too, but I was too blind to realize what he was doing." She let out a shaky breath and Nico waited patiently for her to continue. Nattie finally said, "He was so mean to Frankie and to my mom. When I was around, he'd pretend to be nice but when I was gone, he…" She sighed again, looking for words to explain. "He wanted me to himself. He didn't want to help me take care of mom. I'd leave to get her food and come back to her crying and Nathanial pretending to comfort her. I didn't realize it was his fault she was crying in the first place."

She took a deep breath and looked at Nico. "My mother is very fragile, I guess you could say. She gets hurt easily and I mean, emotionally and physically. I thought she was crying over something else…I don't even know what I was thinking. I just thought he was so perfect, so sweet and kind and charming. I thought he actually cared."

She paused and Nico took this chance to say. "I'm sorry he was so mean to your mom."

Nattie scoffed. "That's not even what upsets me the most. It's what he did to Frankie…" She choked on a sob and let out a shaky breath.

Nico frowned. "What did he do to Frankie?"

She closed her eyes and wiped away the tears. Then she whispered, "He beat him up."

Nico's jaw dropped open and he exclaimed, "_What?_"

Nattie nodded. "Exactly my reaction. It started out as just a regular day. I woke up, checked on mom, and went out to get her some food. Nathanial spent the night and when I left he was sleeping." She paused before adding, "I don't know what Frankie did to upset him, but I get home and I see Nathanial beating up my brother and tossing him around like he's some sort of rag doll. And Frankie, he's not one to fight back; he doesn't result to violence. When I saw what he was doing to Frankie I just went all out on him." She laughed a little. "Not one of my prettiest moments to say the least. Frankie and my mom are the most important people in my life and if someone hurts them in any way I…"

She stopped and just sat in silence for a while. "Frankie means the world to me. I felt so bad when I saw him all bruised and bloody."

Nico smiled a little. "Let me guess, you left Nathanial in intensive care huh?"

Nattie laughed. "Just about."

Nico shook his head and smiled as Nattie continued, "Frankie's bruises have gone away but he's still a little scarred. I am too. I really thought he was the one. But I was so wrong. My blindness hurt my family, and I don't think I could ever forgive myself for that."

Nico frowned and tilted her chin so that she was looking at him. "Why are you blaming yourself?"

"Because I should've known what he was doing. I promised myself that I wasn't gonna fall in love so fast again. But then I met you." She smiled at him.

He smiled. "Is that why you weren't sure if you wanted to be with me or not?"

She nodded. "I was afraid you'd be like Nathanial and hurt my family. Or me."

Nico pulled her closer and whispered. "Nattie, I'll never hurt you or your family. When I was little, my family got taken away from me. And by the time I was old enough to go out on my own, I found a new family. Which is Pedro and Rafael. And then, I met you and everything changed. Your family is my family now, and I would never hurt my family."

Nattie smiled at him. "I believe you." She kissed him for a few seconds and then said, "And that is why I love you so much."

"Not nearly as much as I love you." He smiled. They snuggled closer together and she laid her head on his shoulder. "Apple." He said quietly.

Nattie looked at him confused. "Apple?"

He looked at her. Nattie thought she could see a sparkle in his eye, but it was too dark to tell. "You're my apple."

Nattie stared at him for a long time, just letting it all in. She realized this was real, but it felt like a fairytale, a dream. She smiled and leaned her head against his. "And you are mine." Then they fell asleep, still wrapped in each other's wings, filling their minds with peaceful and loving dreams.

* * *

Frankie's eyes opened and he felt warmth on his chest. He looked down and saw that Mandy had her wings wrapped around him and her head was on his chest. Frankie smiled. _Gosh, she's just so wonderful! _He breathed in the scent of her head feathers and tried to fall back asleep. Suddenly, something came bursting into the hollow. "FRANKIE! GET UP!" The sound of a familiar voice echoed throughout the hollow, jerking Mandy awake. Mandy looked and realized she had her wings around Frankie and she was practically laying on top of him. She blushed as she got off of her smirking boyfriend.

Frankie laughed at her expression and kissed her cheek. He smiled sweetly and said, "Good morning my sweet!"

Mandy smiled. "Well good morning to you too."

"Yeah, good morning to me too! Now get up!" Frankie and Mandy turned to see a very excited looking Pedro.

"Why such a rush?"

Pedro smiled. "Because, Frankie your mom is awake. I was just at the sanctuary. She wants to see you!"

Frankie jumped up excitedly. "She is? How's she feeling?"

Pedro smirked. "Why don't you ask her that yourself?" Frankie squealed in delight and rocketed out of the hollow before anyone could blink.

Pedro and Mandy looked at each other and laughed. "Well wait for us!" Mandy yelled as they flew out after him.

After about ten minutes of flying, they got to the sanctuary and Frankie burst in at full speed. Unfortunately, he couldn't stop himself in time and he flew right into the unprepared Nico.

Nico groaned as Frankie sheepishly helped him up. "Well will ya watch where you're going?" He yelled sarcastically and Frankie held his wings up in defense.

"I'm sorry! Where's mom?"

"Over here honey." Frankie turned and saw his mother holding the smiling Nattie. He smiled happily and ran over to her.

"MAMA!" He exclaimed jumping into her wings. Everyone laughed and Frankie said, "Don't ever scare me like that again!"

Maria smiled and held onto her son. "Don't worry! I'm going to be just fine. The doctor said so himself!" Frankie pulled away, still smiling and Mandy walked forward and gave Maria a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm so glad you're okay! You had us all so worried."

Maria smiled wider. "Well thank you. But I'm doing so much better now. And I heard you two had a very interesting day yesterday." She winked knowingly.

Frankie's heart leaped and he leaned forward, whispering loudly, "She's my girlfriend now!" Then he jumped around excitedly. "Isn't that great!"

Everyone laughed at Frankie and Mandy said, "Very charming babe, I'm getting all misty eyed over here."

Frankie just laughed and wrapped a wing around her. "I have that effect on the ladies."

Pedro rolled his eyes with a laugh and said, "Alright we get it lover boy. Who wants to go to the beach?"

Nico and Frankie both chorused, "I wanna! I wanna!"

Nattie and Mandy agreed and Nattie turned to her mom. "What do you say mom?"

Maria nodded. "Go on and have fun!"

Nattie frowned. "You're not coming?"

"I can't come. The doctor is doing flight therapy, so that I can fly again. I have to get some muscles back in my wing. But doing worry, they'll be plenty of time for us to spend together." She smiled at her daughter.

Nattie nodded with a smile and said, "Okay, we'll be back later. I love you!" She hugged Maria.

Frankie stepped forward and hugged her too. "Have fun with your therapy."

"I'll try. See you later Nico and Mandy and Pedro." They all waved goodbye and flew off towards the sandy beach.

Nattie flew fast and all over the sky, finally feeling happy. "Woohoo!" She cheered as she looped around and flipped. Nico smiled as he watched her. He flew up to her and spun her around.

"Someone is feeling happy today."

Nattie laughed. "You have no idea!" She flew next to Frankie and ruffled his head feathers, saying, "I'm SO happy!" Frankie laughed at his sister and they landed on the beach. Nico landed next to Nattie and took her wing in his.

"Well then let's make this happiness last forever. Whattya say, apple?" He smiled and winked.

Nattie laughed a little but then realized what he said. He said _forever_. She beamed and jumped on him excitedly, wrapping her wings around his neck. "Yes! I love you! I love you too much for words!"

Nico chuckled and said, "I love you too!" They kissed and Mandy and Pedro cooed.

Frankie, however, asked, "Did you just call her apple?"

Nico and Nattie looked at each other and smiled. "Yup."

Frankie looked at Nattie and shrugged. "You kinda do look like an apple, with that round head of yours."

Nattie laughed. "Well you look kinda like a pear."

Frankie frowned sarcastically. "Nuh uh girl." He snapped his feathers. "That is wonk! Come here!" He playfully chased his sister and when he caught her, he threw her into the water. Then, all the birds jumped in, splashing each other and swimming around for a while.

When they were done, they sat on the beach and talked. Pedro suddenly noticed he was surrounded by couples and turning to Frankie he said, "Am I ugly?"

Frankie stared at him for a moment before bursting out into laughter. "What?"

Pedro sighed with a roll of his eyes. "Well, I've noticed how I'm the only one who doesn't have a girlfriend. I figured it might be because I'm ugly."

Frankie shook his head, still laughing. "Well dude, that's not it. You'll find someone, don't worry!"

Pedro scoffed. "Maybe I don't wanna find somebody." Just as he said that, a pretty cardinal walked by, flirtatiously winking at him. "I gotta go!" Pedro got up and quickly followed her.

Everyone laughed and Frankie said, "Looks like he found someone!" His eyes suddenly shifted to someone in the sand. He gasped and everyone looked at him confused.

"What's wrong?" Nico asked.

Frankie chuckled. "Nothing's wrong. There's a starfish over there." He got up and walked over to it. Picking it up, he said, "Did you know, that if you break a starfish's leg off, it grows back. Just a little bit of info." He smiled at Mandy and added, "My love, I think you know what you need to do." He handed it to her.

She stared at him confused and shrugged. "If you say so." Then, in one fluent motion, she snapped one of the legs off of the starfish.

Frankie's eyes widened. "NO!" He took the starfish back and stared at it. "Why did you do that?"

"You told me to!"

Frankie sighed. "No, I meant that you should keep it! Not break its leg off!"

Mandy flushed. "Oh. Well it'll grow back!"

Frankie looked at her and couldn't help but laugh. Nico and Nattie stood up and he said, "Come on you two. Let's go back in!"

The four of them plummeted into the ocean, swimming around and having fun without a worry in the world. Finally.

* * *

_This is not the last chapter! In case any of you guys thought that. I'll tell you when the last chapter is here...oh and by the way guys the next chapter is the last chapter. Just letting you know. Another thing, Legionnaires' disease, yeah that's real disease. It probably doesn't show up in birds but ya know, it is what it is!_

_I really hope you're liking this...or loving this! Hahaha and I know, you guys might be a little depressed that the next chapter is the final, but don't worry, I have a surprise for you all! I'll explain it in the author's note! Until then! :D _


	7. Chapter 7

_Alright, this is it guys, last chapter! Hope you like! :)_**  
**

* * *

**Three months later…**

"Wait up apple!" Nico called to his beautiful girlfriend who was flying as fast as she could to get to the hollow.

Nattie smirked over her shoulder. "What can't handle this?" She circled around flipped, putting on a mocking smile.

"Show off!"

She laughed and slowed her pace a little for Nico to catch up. "I'm sorry I'm too fast for you, but my mom wants us to meet someone. I'm excited to see who it is!"

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Is it that guy she's been sneaking out every night to see?"

Nattie rolled her eyes. "She hasn't been sneaking out, she tells me where she's going."

"Well whatever. Is it?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Most likely." They flew at a normal pace through the greenery, enjoying the view of the forest.

Nico smirked. "She's probably in love."

Nattie chuckled. "So? You got a problem with that?"

"No, but do you?"

"Of course not!" Nattie playfully bumped into him. "I'm happy that she's found someone. I just wanna make sure she's not going to get hurt."

Nico looked and saw their clearing up ahead. "Well here's your chance to find out." They glided through the cherry blossom trees and over the waterfall. The glistening water captured the rays of the sun, causing twinkling sparkles to lighten the clearing. They flew into the hollow and saw that Frankie and Mandy were already there.

Frankie turned and smiled. "Hey!"

He and Nico shared a fist bump and Nico asked, "What's up man?"

"Spending time with my beautiful girlfriend. " Frankie wrapped a wing around Mandy. "How was your date?"

Nico smiled. "As amazing as ever!"

As the boys talked, Nattie and Mandy smiled at each other. Nattie walked over to her, "How's it going?"

Mandy shrugged, "Pretty good. Your brother sure is funny. We went to the beach today because Rafael brought some of his kids to play. Frankie was helping one of them build a sand castle and he made it look so perfect. Well, when he was finished, the kid he was helping destroyed it. Frankie didn't take that so well and he just threw a fit; he was rolling around in the sand, complaining. It was SO funny! It was one of those 'you had to be there' moments." Mandy and Nattie both laughed.

"Yup, that's my brother for ya. Just a big baby." Nattie laughed again.

Mandy nodded and smiled over at Frankie who was still talking to Nico. "Yeah but he's my big baby and I love him for that."

Nattie smiled but turned when she heard wings flapping outside the hollow. Everyone turned when they saw Maria enter the hollow with another bird. This bird was a yellow finch with golden yellow feathers on his chest and down his back. He had black feathers on his wings and a few black feathers covering the top of his head. He was a handsome young fellow.

Frankie smiled widely. "Is this the dashing gentleman who has captured my mother's heart?"

"I am he! And you must be Frankie!" The finch had an immense French accent. "My name is Gustavo and I am from Paris." He rolled his tongue when he said 'Paris'.

Nattie raised her eyebrows and smiled. "I'm Nattie, sometimes known as apple. It's nice to meet you!"

Gustavo smiled a charming smile and shook her wing. "Apple?"

Nattie looked at Nico and smiled. "A certain someone started calling me that and it sorta stuck."

Gustavo nodded and bowed with a smile. "Well then the pleasure is all mine, apple."

Nattie shot a look at her mother and smiled at her, telling her that she was impressed.

After Gustavo greeted everyone, Maria said, "I met him at the sanctuary actually. Remember when I told you that the doctor was giving me flight therapy? Well Gustavo was my therapist. He helped me fly again." She smiled at him. He looked at her with his meadow green eyes and she just about melted.

Nico and Nattie smirked and Frankie said, "So mom, I bet you wanna go to France now." He winked. Maria rolled her eyes at her son.

Gustavo scratched his head and said, "Yeah…funny story actually. You see, I want to stay in Rio for Carnival next year but after that I'm going back to France for a while." He turned to Maria and took her wing in his. "I was wondering if you wanted to accompany me?"

Maria's eyes widened a bit and she looked at Nattie. "I don't know what to say."

Nattie smiled and said, "I think it sounds like fun mom!"

Frankie nodded. "Yeah mom! Spend a few days in the city of love!"

Gustavo broke in, "Actually, it'd be more like a few months. But that won't be until next year so you have plenty of time to think about it. We can settle down, maybe find a hollow somewhere?"

Maria smiled. "I'll think about it."

He smiled back and said charmingly, "And you can think about it while I take you out on a date."

Maria looked at him surprised. "Now?"

"Of course." He smirked and took her wing and kissed it. "I'd love to take you for a ride on a trolley. Admire your beauty as the sunlight glistens your feathers, allowing your bright blue eyes to mesmerize me."

Maria blushed and said, "Sure."

Gustavo turned to everyone and said, "It was nice meeting you all." With that, the couple left and Frankie raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Wow. That guy is smooth. Even _I'm _thinking about going!"

Everyone looked at Frankie and laughed. Then Nattie said, "Well if she's moving out, that means one of us will have this hollow."

Frankie smiled. "You two can have it. Me and Mandy will find a nice hollow across the clearing. I think I saw one earlier…"

Mandy stared at him in awe. "You started looking for a hollow for us already?"

Frankie smirked and wrapped a wing around her. "Well of course I did. We're not going to just stay in the same hollow with Nico and Nattie. That'd be kinda awkward…"

Nico laughed. "Yeah no kidding there."

Frankie chuckled and looked at Mandy. "Yeah, so you wanna see the one I picked out?"

Mandy beamed. "Are you kidding? Yeah I do!" She squealed happily and grabbed his wing, pulling him out of the hollow.

"Well, okay then! Bye, guys!" Frankie waved to Nico and Nattie as he was dragged out of the hollow.

Nico turned to his girlfriend and said, "Well, now that we're alone, how 'bout a romantic date?"

Nattie smirked, "Oh I don't know. Who exactly do you plan on taking on this 'romantic date'?"

He smiled and put a wing to his chin, as if he were thinking. "Well she's about this big," He put his wing out in front of the top of Nattie's head, indicating the height. "Has the brightest blue eyes I've ever seen. She's the most gorgeous girl on the planet, and she smells a little bit like," Nico paused and sniffed Nattie deeply. Finally he smiled and said, "apples."

Nattie smiled. "Well _my _date for the evening is cute, funny, and has the most amazing brown eyes."

Nico raised an eyebrow with a crooked smile. "Oh really now?"

She smirked and put her wings around his shoulders soothingly. "Yup. And I can't wait finally meet him!" She laughed and took a step away, turning towards the hollow door.

Nico frowned with his bottle cap covering his right eye. "Hey now!"

Nattie smiled and turned around to face him. "Kidding!" She wrapped her wings around his neck and kissed him deeply.

As she pulled away, Nico sighed in ecstasy, "If only you understood how I feel when you kiss me."

She laughed and pulled him towards the door. "Come on."

* * *

"Well what do you think?" Frankie gestured with his wings. Mandy smiled as she gazed upon the large hollow. The hollow had two separate rooms and nests that had already been made. It also had a makeshift table and chairs with large leaves to act as place mats, bowls, and plates. There was also a nice living room area with comfortable furniture made out of cotton and cloth. Frankie smiled at Mandy's expression. "I see you like."

Mandy stared in awe. "Like? I love! You found this place?"

Frankie laughed sheepishly. "Well, just the hollow; I made everything else."

"You made all this?" She asked astonished as she felt the makeshift couch.

He grinned. "Yeah. I wanted our first home to be special."

Mandy glanced up into his blue eyes and completely melted right there. "I love you." She whispered, awestruck.

Frankie looked at her slyly and said, "I love _you_." Then he smiled dumbly and added, "So do I get an award?"

Mandy smirked in a flirty manner and asked, "Well what kind of award would you like?"

"Oh I think we both know what I would like." He winked and she leaned forward and grabbed him by shoulders, kissing him long and hard.

When she pulled away, he breathed, "Well I was gonna say coconut milk but that…that's way better." He kissed her again and then pulled back and said, "So I think our children will like this home."

Mandy looked at him and smiled, "_When_ we decide to have children, I know they'll love it!" She sighed happily and wrapped her wings around him in a tight embrace.

Frankie smiled and hugged her back, cherishing all the little details about her. The way her feathers always smelled like lilacs and mint. The way her brown eyes sparkled every time he looked into them. Her feathers were so bright and colorful, it emphasized her beauty even more. He never wanted to let her go.

Mandy had to laugh. "Frankie, you're squeezing me." His eyes widened and he quickly released her.

"Sorry."

Mandy smirked and stepped closer to him, "I didn't say that I didn't like it."

Frankie looked at her and noticed how close she was and laughed nervously, "I-is it hot in here or is it just you?" He awkwardly waved a wing in front of his face.

Mandy tried to keep her flirty expression but ended up giggling at him. She playfully poked his stomach. "Who's cute?"

Frankie blushed and rolled his eyes. "Me."

She laughed with him and said, "How about we go to The Branch?"

Frankie gasped. "I would love that."

Mandy giggled and pulled him towards the door, "Well then let's go!"

He sighed. "Okay, but I'm gonna beat you there." He flew out of the hollow quickly and Mandy groaned.

"Cheater!"

* * *

Nico and Nattie were currently laying on the branch hanging over the waterfall, also known as "their spot". It was where they shared their first kiss and where they admitted their love for each other. Nico looked at her and smiled. "I must be the luckiest guy on the planet."

She looked at him. "Why?"

Nico deadpanned. "Why do you think?" He smiled and stroked her cheek. "I'm dating the most amazing girl on the planet."

Nattie smiled and bit her beak. "Thanks but I'm really not that amazing."

Nico scoffed. "Don't even try to deny it."

She chuckled and looked him in the eye. "Can I ask you something?"

Nico smirked and gave her an immensely flirtatious look. "You can ask me anything you want babe."

Nattie rolled her eyes. "Okay first, whip that look off your face or I won't be able to ask you anything." Nico laughed but complied and gave her a serious smile. Nattie continued, "And what I wanted to ask you was…how do you feel about starting a family with me?"

Nico's eyebrows shot up in surprise and she added, "I mean, not right now obviously but in future."

He smiled and took his bottle cap off his head, holding it in his wings sheepishly. "Well, I know I'm not going to wanna start a family with anyone but you and I know I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you, so if I'm gonna have children it's definitely gonna be with you."

Nattie looked at him in awe and after a few moments she finally let out a flattered giggle, "Awww."

Nico laughed and pulled her close to him, cradling her in his wings. She leaned her head against his chest and sighed happily, "I'm glad, because I really love you and I can't see me being with anybody else." She looked at him and kissed him deeply for a few seconds before pulling back.

He rubbed her back and cooed, "I love you more."

She grinned up at him. "Impossible."

He kissed her softly for a moment and then said, "You wanna go to The Branch for a while?"

Nattie shrugged. "Sure!" She suddenly flew into the sky before Nico could even blink and called down to him, "Well come on slow poke! Let's go to The Branch!"

Nico pouted. "You are so unfair!" Then he quickly flew after her. Laughing, they flew fast over the forest and into the open sky. Nico's eyes never left Nattie's face. She looked so happy and free, it made him feel grateful just to watch. She suddenly dove downwards and into a familiar fruit market. They both glided into The Branch, panting and holding back their laughs.

Nattie smiled at him and said, "Well looks like it's a tie."

Nico cocked his head to the side. "I didn't even know we were racing."

She laughed a little but before anymore could be said, a certain commotion interrupted.

"WHAT THE HECK, FRANKIE?"

"I'M SORRY PEDRO! DON'T YELL AT ME OR I'M GOING TO CRY!"

Nico and Nattie looked at each other and laughed. They could also hear a few people from the dancing crowd of birds laughing also.

A sudden voice from behind them got their attention. "He's your boyfriend."

"He's _your _son." They turned and saw Mandy, Maria and Gustavo sitting at a table, talking. Nattie and Nico smiled and walked over to them.

"Hey guys!" Nattie said happily.

"Hey sweetie!" Maria smiled back at her daughter. She turned and gave Nico a welcoming smile, "How was your date?"

Nico shrugged. "Good! Same as always. What about you?"

Everyone quietly talked for a while before Frankie and Pedro suddenly returned to the table, laughing hysterically.

"What's so funny?" Mandy chuckled a little.

Frankie and Pedro just looked at each other and laughed again. "Nothing! Nothing at all! You feeling me dawg?" He playfully nudged Pedro, "Ya feelin me?"

Pedro nudged him back. "Yeah dawg, I'm feelin ya!" They both fell to the ground laughing and everyone at the table exchanged weird looks.

Nico chuckled. "What is going on?"

Nattie shook her head. "Who knows."

Frankie and Pedro recovered and sat down at the table. Pedro took a deep breath and said, "Phew good stuff!" He looked around and huffed, "Well, no one's gonna sing?"

Indeed, there was nobody on the stage singing and so the D.J was playing music. Nattie pursed her beak and stated questioningly, "I could sing a song…"

Nico smiled. "Yeah you should!"

She blushed at his smirk and turned to her mother. "I've actually been writing a sing, would you care to hear it?"

Everyone nodded excitedly and Maria said, "Yes, I've never actually seen you perform before! I'd love to hear you sing!"

Nattie smiled and stood up, "Well okay then!" The fluttered up to the D.J and suggested a song.

The D.J smirked, "Okay baby bird! The stage is yours."

Nattie looked at the crowd of birds staring at her and she smiled. "This is a song I've written for my mother. She's been sick for a while but she's doing better; so I wrote her this song." She looked at Maria as she announced this. Maria smiled sheepishly as the crowd cheered. The music began to play and the crowd quieted to hear her sing.

_Mama you taught me to do the right things_

_So now you have to let your baby fly_

_You've given me everything that I will need_

_To make it through this crazy thing called life_

_And I know you watch me grow up and only want what's best for me_

_And I think I found the answer to your prayers_

_And he is good, so good_

_He treats your little girl like a real man should_

Nico looked at Maria and nodded. Maria laughed a little and returned her attention back to Nattie.

_He is good, so good, he makes promises he keeps No he's never gonna leave_

_So dont you worry about me_

_Dont you worry about me_

Nattie smiled at her mother, who was watching her with that loving affection a mother has when their kids do something incredibly sweet for them.

_Mama theres no way you'll ever lose me_

_And giving me away is not goodbye_

_As you watch me walk down to my future, I hope tears of joy are in your eyes_

_Cuz he is good, so good_

_He treats your little girl like a real man should_

_He is good, so good, he makes promises he keeps No he's never gonna leave_

_So dont you worry about me_

_Dont you worry about me_

Nattie looked at Nico and winked as she sang the next part.

_And when I watch my little baby grow I'll only want what's best for her_

_And I hope she'll find the answer to my prayers_

_And that she'll say_

_He is good, so good_

_He treats your little girl like a real man should_

_He is good, so good, he makes promises he keeps No he's never gonna leave_

Nattie sang out passionately, keeping her eyes locked with her mother's. Maria had tears in her eyes as Nattie sang the last few lines of the song.

_So dont you worry about me_

_Dont you worry about me_

_Mama dont you worry about me_

_Dont you worry about me_

The music faded away and Nattie had to wipe her eyes to keep the tears from falling. The crowd cheered and whistled, clearly enjoying the song. Maria stood up and clapped for her daughter. Nattie smiled a bowed a few times before exiting the stage. When she got to the table Maria walked up to her and wrapped her in a hug. "I love you."

Nattie smiled into her mother's shoulder. "I love you too mom."

They pulled apart and Maria smiled. "That song is true. Nico is good for you, and I can't express how happy I am that you have him to care for you."

Nattie's smile widened and Nico walked over to her and wrapped a wing around her shoulder, saying, "I can't express how happy I am that I'm able to care for her." He looked at Nattie and said softly, "I love her."

Nattie felt butterflies in her stomach. Her eyes lit up and she said, "I love him."

He leaned forward and planted his beak right on hers. When he pulled back, he stared into her eyes as Maria smiled, "Well aren't you two just so cute!"

Nico smiled at her and said, "We try to be." Nattie was still a little awestruck; she was completely speechless. _He's so perfect! _

Frankie smirked. "Well I hate to ruin the moment, but I myself personally think that me and Mandy are a little bit cuter. Just saying!" He held his wings up in defense and Mandy smiled at him.

Nico scoffed. "Uh no! No one is cuter than us!" He gestured to himself and Nattie and the canary couple both posed cutely. Frankie rolled his eyes and Nico smirked, "Besides, at least we can sing."

Pedro gaped and held a wing over his beak and dramatically said, "Ooh snap!"

Frankie frowned. "We can too sing! We're just prefer to dance; but we can sing all we want!"

Nico crossed his wings. "Prove it!"

Frankie stood up and narrowed his eyes and Nico. "Gladly." He then turned to Mandy, "Shall we?"

Mandy looked between him and Nico and with a smirk she said, "We shall." She took his wing and everyone cheered as they flew to the stage.

After about five minutes, Frankie and Mandy appeared on the stage, both looking relaxed and calm.

Nico smiled and put his wing around Nattie as Gustavo put his wing around Maria. Nico whispered to Nattie, "Your mom looks happy with that guy."

Nattie smiled at Maria and Gustavo and nodded. "I'm happy for her."

They quieted as the music began to blare throughout the speakers. The club cheered as Mandy strutted/danced past Frankie. The crowed cheered even louder as she began to sing.

_Went walkin' through town just the other day_

_With nothin' much to do_

_As the sun came breakin' down through the clouds_

_I never seen the sky so blue_

Frankie walked towards her, smiling as Mandy strolled backwards with a smirk on her face.

_I saw a Cajun man with a red guitar_

_Singin' on the side of the street_

_I threw a handful of change in his beat up case_

_And said play me a country beat_

_And it sounded like_

Music sounded again and Mandy sidled past Frankie and spun around. Frankie smiled as he sang with her.

_Met up with some friends outside of town_

_We were headed towards the lake_

_I hopped into the back of a jacked up jeep_

_Felt the wind upon my face_

_We got to the spot and the sun was hot_

_Everybody was feelin' fine_

_So we jumped on in for a midday swim_

_Then we lost all track of time_

The crowd cheered as Mandy turned away from Frankie and walked across the stage, singing to the audience.

_It was a perfect day_

_What I'd give if I could find a way to stay_

_Lost in this moment now_

_Ain't worried about tomorrow_

_When you're busy livin' in a perfect day_

Frankie moon walked past Mandy and she and the audience laughed at him. She held a wing up to his chest and walked forward, gently pushing him back as they sang.

_As the moon came out and the fire burned_

_Everybody was singin' along_

_To some ramblin', a little Curtis Lowe_

_And all those feel good songs_

Mandy turned away from him again and strutted across the stage, swaying her hip to the beat. Frankie was staring at her so he almost missed the chorus. But luckily, he snapped out of his daze just in time and joined her with a smile.

_We danced all night without a care_

_No place we'd rather be_

_'Cause these are the days we talked about_

_When we lived so wild and free_

_It was a perfect day_

_What I'd give if I could find a way to stay_

_Lost in this moment now_

_Ain't worried about tomorrow_

_When you're busy livin' in a perfect day_

_We were sittin' in the sand as he grabbed my hand_

_And he leaned in for a kiss_

At this line, Frankie leaned forward, intending to get a kiss. But Mandy put a flight feather up to his beak and playfully pushed him back again.

_I couldn't help but think with the stars above_

_It don't get much better than this_

_It was a perfect day_

Mandy spun around Frankie as they sang the chorus together. Nico, Nattie, Pedro, Maria, and Gustavo were now dancing along with the song.

_What I'd give if I could find a way to stay_

_Lost in this moment now_

_Ain't worried about tomorrow_

Frankie grabbed Mandy's wings and they danced with each other for the rest of the song.

_When you're busy livin', feels like dreamin'_

_Slowly driftin' through this perfect day_

_Na na na na na na na [x2]_

The song ended with Frankie spinning Mandy towards him; they were standing face to face and the audience exploded into cheers. Nico and Nattie were probably cheering the loudest but no one could tell.

Frankie and Mandy smiled at each other and he suddenly pulled her forward and kissed her passionately, in front of the crowd of birds. Everyone cheered and whistled and Mandy's heart leaped in surprise. He finally pulled away and breathed heavily as Mandy just stared into his blue eyes. She smiled and hugged him tightly before they both bowed together. The flew off the stage as the D.J played another song and the audience began dancing and mingling again.

"You guys were amazing!" Nico smiled widely and Frankie and Mandy approached them.

Frankie smiled. "Thanks! I told you we could sing!"

Nico nodded. "Yup. You sure showed me!"

Mandy laughed and said, "Does anyone wanna go to the beach?"

Nico put a wing around Nattie's waist and smiled adoringly at her. "You guys go ahead. My apple and I have a hollow we need to fix up."

Nattie smiled and nodded. Frankie shrugged. "Well okay, suit yourself! You guys coming?"

Pedro smirked. "Heck yeah! I already told Angie that I'd meet her there."

Frankie raised his eyebrows as he put a wing around Mandy. "Is she that girl you like?"

Pedro nodded sheepishly. "Yeah, she is a hot wing."

Frankie chuckled and turned to his mother and Gustavo. "What about you guys?"

Maria looked at Gustavo who smiled and nodded. "Sure!"

"Sweet!" Frankie cheered, "We'll see you later Nico! And you too apple!" He winked at his sister before flying out of the club with Mandy and Pedro. Maria smiled and kissed Nattie and Nico on the cheeks before following.

Nattie turned to Nico and smiled, "Come on. Let's go."

They flew at a leisurely pace through the forest, admiring all the beauty and life of it. The sky was plastered with pink and orange hues, making the sunset even more beautiful.

They flew by their hollow; admiring the huge tree. Nattie laughed, "I've lived in this tree my whole life. And now I'm going to live in it with you. Life just keeps getting better!"

Nico smiled at her. He couldn't seem to stop smiling at her. He finally realized that this was real; this beautiful girl in front of him was really there. And she loved him. She loved him as much as he loved her. She's all he'll ever want.

Nattie blushed a little and asked, "What?"

Nico shook his head with a small smile and gave her a small and sweet kiss. "I just love you."

Nattie smiled sweetly. "I love you way more."

He shook his head. "I don't think that's possible." He suddenly pulled her towards the hollow and when they entered he picked something up. He held it in front of him and Nattie inspected the item.

"An apple?" She looked at him and smiled, a little confused.

He smiled, an incredibly happy smile, "It's my new favorite fruit."

They looked each other in the eyes, getting lost in them. Images flashed to the moment they first met to right now; their new life together.

Finally, they kissed again, still holding the apple in their wings.

* * *

_Well there ya go! Hahaha I really hope you all like this story! Please tell me if you did! Haha And thanks to all who reviewed! They mean the world to me! THANKS THANKS THANKS! You guys are the best!_

_As for this surprise I told you I'd give...check out the next chapter and you'll see! :D_


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